The BurmaNet News, June 2, 1997

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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------       
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"       
----------------------------------------------------------       
       
The BurmaNet News: June 2, 1997       
Issue #739
     
HEADLINES:       
==========     
THE NATION: ASEAN AGREES TO BURMA'S EARLY ENTRY
KYODO: HASHIMOTO VOWS CLOSE WATCH ON MYANMAR
REUTER: U.S. REGRETS ASEAN NOD TO BURMA
AFP: MYANMAR ENTRY A TERRIBLE SHAME, SAYS SDP'S CHEE
THE NATION: CHINA, JAPAN PRAISE DECISION ON NEW TRIO
THE NATION: SHAMEFUL FOR ASEAN TO EMBRACE BURMA
TT: STUDENTS IN EXILE DEMAND JUNTA RE-OPEN SCHOOLS
ALTSEAN: MALAYSIA- ACTIVISTS RELEASED FROM CUSTODY
THE NATION: NEW MEMBERS FACE STRICTER PROCEDURES
TT: CHANNEL DREDGING WILL NOT UPSET RELATIONS
ASIA TIMES: EVEN THE HEROIN TRADE HAS BEEN AFFECTED  
ASIAWEEK: BEYOND SANCTIONS
-----------------------------------------------------------------     

THE NATION: ASEAN AGREES TO BURMA'S EARLY ENTRY
June 1, 1997
Kulachada Chaipipat

KUALA LUMPUR - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations decided
yesterday to admit its final three members - Burma, Cambodia and Laos - in
July, reaffirming their belief that this was in the best interests of the
region and the world community. 

The Asean foreign ministers hailed their controversial decision to
"complete" the grouping, by expanding it to  bring all 10 Southeast Asian
nations into its fold, but critics warned that further repression was likely
in Burma as a result.
     
The decision was made on the  recommendation of the Asean Secretariat, which
reported in detail on the three countries' readiness to fulfil all technical
requirements and economic and non-economic commitments of membership.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, chairman of the
Asean Standing Committee, said the three new members should be given 10
years, beginning  next year, to join the Asean Free Trade Area.

He said he would travel to all three  capitals next month to convey the
decision and for consultations on the final preparations for admission.

It was decided to admit, all three countries in July despite a strong appeal
from the Burmese democratic opposition, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and
regional and international human rights groups. They had called on Asean to
delay Burma's admission until there were  political  reforms in he  country.

The decision also went against the United States' request that Asean
reconsider the Burmese  junta's bid for membership this year.
     
In a video-taped message to Asean foreign ministers, Suu Kyi said the
premature admission of Burma into the grouping would make the Burmese junta
"more obdurate and oppressive than ever".

In Rangoon, the ruling Burmese State Law and Order  Restoration Council
immediately  praised the decision, saying Burma would work with other
members to develop the region. 
     
The official admission  ceremony will take  place a day before the Asean
foreign ministers' annual meeting convenes on July 24.After induction, the
new members will be entitled to attend all Asean sessions, including the
Post Ministerial Meeting where Asean holds talks with dialogue countries,
including the US.

Yesterday's decision cleared away  speculation that Asean might defer the
admission until December, to ward off international pressure against Burma's
early membership.

Badawi said the ministers agreed that the Asean Secretariat's report
provided ample proof of the  readiness of the three countries, while the
political situation in Burma and Cambodia was not a criteria for
consideration of  membership. 
     
He admitted that there were concerns among Asean members about the
political situation in the two countries, but said Asean believed their
early inclusion would help improve the situation. "We do not think that a
delay would improve the situation in those  countries," he said.

Thailand and the Philippines did raise the issue of political unrest in
Burma and Cambodia, questioning in particular Phnom Penh's ability to ratify
19 Asean treaties and agreements. They later bowed to Indonesia's view.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Ali Alatas led those who supported the
admission in July and not later.

During intensive discussions on Friday night, Alatas was quoted as saying
there was no proof that if admission was deferred until December the
political situation in Burma and Cambodia would improve.

"We are assured by the Asean secretary-general that ratification of the
treaties and agreements will not be necessary for the time being, but will
be later, in the next two or three years," Philippines' Foreign Minister
Domingo Siazon said.

"Of course, we will have more members and more problems. But we hope to
increase our ability to deal with these problems now that we are together,
not divided nations of seven plus three," he said.

"We also hope, that integration will have a positive impact over the
long-term on the human rights situation [in Burma]," he said.

Foreign Minister  Prachuab Chaiyasan said Thailand was led to believe that
integration and co-existence would contribute to political and  economic
stability and prosperity in the region.

Prachuab said early admission would enable Asean to help the new members
improve their human resources and enable them-to fulfil economic commitments.

He acknowledged the ministers had discussed the impact the admission of
Burma and Cambodia could have on the grouping's relationship with its
dialogue partners. He did not elaborate.

An Asean  source disclosed that US Vice  President Al Gore had, prior to the
meeting yesterday, sent a personal letter to Malaysia and the Philippines,
expressing US opposition to Burma's early admission. "Rather than an
obstruction, it provided an impetus for Asean to come to this decision," he
said.

According to the source, Asean did not want to be seen as bowing to US pressure.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Alatas said the US concern did not divide Asean
on the issue to the extent of creating indecisiveness.

Asean ministers agreed that the admission of the last three new members was
in the long-term strategic interest of the countries in the region and the
world.

"By having all of them in,  we are in a better position to contribute to
peace and stability in our region," he said.

"For one thing, it materialises the long-held dream of the Asean founding
fathers, ever since we established Asean more than 30 years ago, to have all
the 10 Southeast Asian countries in one community."

The ministers agreed to meet again on June 313 in Hong Kong to review final
preparations before the actual admission ceremony in July. 

*********************************************

KYODO: HASHIMOTO VOWS CLOSE WATCH ON MYANMAR AFTER ASEAN DECISION
June 1, 1997

     Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto pledged Sunday to keep a close eye on
developments in Myanmar following a decision Saturday by the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to accept Myanmar,
Cambodia and Laos as full members in July.
     ''It is ASEAN policy to invite Myanmar into the regional grouping and
not to isolate it,'' Hashimoto said.  ''Japan wants to closely follow
(developments in Myanmar) so as not to turn its ASEAN membership into
remission of the sins of the military government.''

**********************************

REUTER: U.S. REGRETS ASEAN NOD TO BURMA
June 1, 1997

 WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuter) - The United States said on  Sunday it
regretted the decision by Southeast Asian states to invite  Burma to join
their regional grouping.

 The State Department acknowledged the makeup of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations was an internal matter for member states to make.

 ``Nonetheless, we regret that ASEAN appears to have invited Burma to join
its organisation at this time,'' a department spokeswoman, Julie Reside, said.

 Burma, along with Cambodia and Laos, won admission to the regional grouping
on Saturday at an ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

 The Clinton administration has pressed for isolation of the military junta
in Burma until it stops repressing the pro-democratic opposition. The junta,
the State Law and Order Restoration Council, blocked Aung San Suu Kyi, a
Nobel Peace laureate, from taking power after her party won a landslide
victory in 1990 elections.

 The State Department said it was counting on ASEAN members to urge Burma's
military junta to enter into a ``productive dialogue'' with domestic
democratic forces and cease actions that undermine regional stability.

 ``Our concerns about the SLORC's policies are well known,'' Reside said.
``It has violated the rights of its own citizens and taken actions that
undermine stability in the region by producing refugee flows and allowing
Burma to remain a major source of narcotics.''

 She added that ASEAN shared these concerns ``and, like the United States,
wanted to see them addressed.''

Washington, citing ``severe repression,'' early this month imposed economic
sanctions on Burma over the military government's rights
 record and treatment of the democracy activists. ASEAN has rejected
Washington's stance and branded it as interference in the grouping's
internal affairs. 

******************************************

AFP: MYANMAR ENTRY A TERRIBLE SHAME, SAYS SDP'S CHEE
June 1, 1997

     SINGAPORE -- A Singapore opposition leader yesterday called Asean's 
decision to admit Myanmar in July a "terrible shame" and warned that the
move could worsen the political situation in the army-ruled country. 

     Dr Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic 
Party, also criticised the Singapore Government for joining the Asean
consensus to allow Myanmar's entry. Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are to be
inducted during the Asean annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur next month after
its entry was approved at a special meeting yesterday of the group's foreign
ministers in the Malaysian capital. 

     The decision was taken despite a fresh crackdown on pro-democracy 
forces by Myanmar's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc)
and pressure from Western nations against opening Asean's doors to the regime. 

     "It's a terrible shame that after all that the Slorc has done to the 
people of Burma, Asean is going to legitimise their rule by inclusion into
the association," Dr Chee told AFP. 

     "We feel that it's again a very sad day for Singapore to support 
Slorc's inclusion into Asean," he added, citing the Myanmar regime's alleged
involvement in drug trafficking. 

     Dr Chee said the Slorc would read Asean's decision as a "green 
light" to "carry on with its ways" instead of being pressured into opening a
dialogue with the opposition led by Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu
Kyi. -- AFP. 

***********************************************

THE NATION: CHINA, JAPAN PRAISE DECISION ON NEW TRIO
June 1, 1997

KUALALUMPUR - Cambodia, Laos, and Burma applauded Asean's
decision yesterday to admit them simultaneously into the regional
grouping at their foreign ministers' meeting in July.

The decision was also welcomed by China and Japan, two close allies of the
grouping but was received with shock by the Burmese democratic opposition.
There was no reaction yet from the West particularly the United States which
has strongly opposed Burma's early membership.

"I would like to thank the seven foreign ministers of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations [Asean] who decided to admit Cambodia as a full
member of Asean in July this year," said Cambodian Foreign Minister Ung Huot
after he opened a golf course near Phnom Penh yesterday morning.

In Vientiane in the afternoon, Laotian Foreign Minister Somsavath Lengsavat
said, "Laos welcomes the decision of Asean foreign ministers in Kuala Lumpur
to admit Cambodia, Laos and Burma simultaneously in July."

In Rangoon, a senior Burmese military officer at the Defence Ministry
welcomed the acceptance.

"I personally thanked the Asean leaders for their foresight and courage to
make this bold decision amid Western pressures to delay the integration,"
the officer said on condition of anonymity.

"This obviously showed the Asean unity and principle against undue
interference and pressure from outside," he said.
     
But, Burmese dissidents in Bangkok expressed anger at the decision. An
official of the National Council of the Union of Burma exclaimed, "it is
ugly that Asean finally legalised the Slorc, by allowing them to join the
grouping in July." 

"It would of course allow Slorc to be more oppressive and aggressive toward
the prodemocracy movement," he said. Slorc or the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc) is the ruling military regime in Rangoon.

Vietnam said it "warmly welcomes" the decision to admit Cambodia,
Laos and Burma as Asean's full members in July.

"This conforms to the desire of the Southeast Asian countries to approach to
an Asean that embraces all the 10 countries in the region at an early date,
and will make positive contributions to the building of a Southeast Asia of
peace, stability and cooperation for development," the Vietnamese Foreign
Ministry said in a statement.
     
In Beijing, China's official Xinhua News Agency quickly reported the Asean
decision to accept the three countries. With a unanimous and historical
decision, the grouping will become a true association of Southeast Asian
nations, the agency said in a detailed report.

In Tokyo, Japan also welcomed Asean's admission decision, a Foreign Ministry
source said. But added that Japan still encourages democratisation in Burma.

"We basically welcome the expansion of regional cooperation through Asean,"
the source said, making it clear, however, that Japan "will not tolerate
Burma's using the membership as a hideout for oppression of its people."

Tokyo, he said, will also try and encourage improving relations between
Asean and the US.

***********************************************

THE NATION: SHAMEFUL FOR ASEAN TO EMBRACE BURMA
June 1, 1997
Editorial

Asean will never be the same again. By embracing Burma as a member it has
itself become a pariah organisation. Coming as it does on the eve of the
30th anniversary of the founding of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, the decision yesterday will have repercussions far beyond whatever
Asean leaders may envisage. It has indeed irreversibly damaged the
organisation's integrity and setback some three decades of achievement.

We firmly believe the applications for membership by Burma, Laos and
Cambodia should be judged on their individual merits and readiness, just as
it has always been in other regional organisations. But still, these
qualifications are secondary to their peoples' desire for freedom and democracy.

To accept Burma without any conditions is to ignore the aspirations of the
Burmese people, who voted for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy (NLD) in 1990. Why bless a regime that is clearly not legitimate?
A regime that is willing to go back on its word.

>From the beginning, the Burmese junta's motive in bidding for membership of
Asean was obvious a regional aegis to prolong its own repressive rule and to
fight against Western pressure for openness. By exploiting Asean's strengths
and weaknesses the junta leaders have been able to turn the membership issue
into an East-West divide - Asean against the West.

In the two years Burma has sought a closer rapport with Asean it has never
lived up to regional or international norms of conduct and behaviour. Now,
Asean would like us and the world to believe that as a member of Asean, the
Slorc leaders will be more enlightened, open-minded and less  oppressive.

The Asean leaders' decision yesterday was a triumph of evil over humanity.
There is a Thai saying that one rotten fish can spoil the whole basket of fish.

The biggest disappointment must be those Thai leaders who failed to play
appropriate roles in leading Asean. Partisan politics and self-interest on
the part of various authorities completely destroyed the unanimity of
Thailand's positions and policies. They will have to bear responsibility for
the future of the Burmese people.

Nonetheless, we welcome the decision to take in Laos and Cambodia, despite
the political uncertainty in Phnom Penh. Laos has been preparing for this
eventuality the longest, knowing full well their inadequacies. The Laotian
and Cambodian peoples are supportive of their governments' desire to join Asean.

The only tangible benefit of Burma's admission is perhaps the fulfillment of
an Asean dream to encompass all 10 countries, as outlined in the Bangkok
Declaration of 1967. It is doubtful whether the attainment of an Asean 10
under such circumstances will add to the influence that Asean has come to
expect. 

Then again, the decision should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Most Asean leaders have much in common with the State Law and Order
Restoration Council in Rangoon. The decision is very much in line with their
domestic politics - the ostensibly one-party rule in Malaysia, Indonesia,
Vietnam and Singapore, and the vote-buying and political patronage which
victimises the people of Thailand.

In the final analysis, it is not the international pressure against Slorc
that really matters. What matters is the burning desire of the people in all
Asean member states to incorporate democracy and human rights as part of
their national development.

These aspirations, like Burma, are being ignored and quashed by current
Asean leaders.

Thus, it is not that Asean has embraced Burma, but that Slorc has joined a
club whose members are very much like themselves. And with Burma being a
member of the regional grouping, we are seeing a "Slorcisation" of Asean.
That, sadly, does not portend well for the people of the region.

*************************************************

THAILAND TIMES:BURMESE STUDENTS IN EXILE DEMAND JUNTA RE-OPEN SCHOOLS
June 1, 1997
AFP

BANGKOK: Burmese students in exile yesterday demanded that the
junta in Rangoon re-open schools that have been closed since student
protests erupted in December, and begin the academic year as usual in June.

The military's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) closed
all primary, middle and high schools and universities in the capital
following the most defiant anti-government protests in years.

Rangoon students took to the streets in December to protest police brutality
against some of their number and to demand the right to set up their own union.

ABSDF accused the SLORC of creating a special education program for -the
children of the military elite to strengthen their grip on power, while
causing a rapid decline in educational and living standards for the general
population.

"The SLORC has kept the schools closed four out of the nine years they have
been in power," the Al] Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) said in a
statement from their office in Bangkok.

Meanwhile, the children of junta members and their associates enjoy
uninterrupted educations at army institutes, or are "sent to private schools
in foreign countries," the junta re-open schools statement said.

All schools in the country were closed from June 1988 to June 1991, before
closing again from December 1991 to August 1992, the ABSDF said.

The military authorities are said to be wary of the potential for student
demonstrations to erupt in public protests due to the leading role students
played in the nationwide democratic uprising of 1988, which ended in a
bloody crack down and the formation of the current junta.

Informed sources in Rangoon said Friday that schools were unlikely to be
opened until August due to upcoming anniversaries important t pro-democracy
groups.

The anniversaries include the June 21 Myenigone incident, when students were
gunned down in the streets o Rangoon, and the August 8 anniversary of the
1988 genera strike against military rule. 

******************************************

ALTSEAN: MALAYSIA- ACTIVISTS RELEASED FROM CUSTODY
June 1, 1997

Sunday June 1, 5 pm. Kuala Lumpur time

A L E R T   U P D A T E

The nine Malaysian Burma activists have been released from police custody,
however it is not known if conditions have been imposed upon their freedom
of movement.  It is also not certain if police will proceed with charges
againt the activists.

The application by the police to extend their remand was rejected by a local
mogaistrate. The magistrate has the discretion of extending their detention
to 14 days in the police lock up.

Despite this, individuals and organisations are urged to lodge their protest
against the harrassment and intimidation of peaceful activists, including
handcuffing them during transportation. You protest will be valuable to
discourage police from pressing charges against the activists.

We need to ensure that the Malaysian (and ASEAN) authorities think twice
before demonstrating more "goodwill" to Burma's military junta (who wilL
become a full member of Asean in July).  Please note that this has not been
the only intimidation to pro-Burma activists in the region.

If you have not done so already, please send your protest fax to:
1.      The closest Malaysian diplomatic mission
2.      Mr Mohd Arshad M. Hussain 
        Under-Secretary, South-East Asia Region
        Foreign Ministry of Malaysia
        Wisma Putra
        Kuala Lumpur
        Fax: ++ 603 2425125, 2424551 (093 if you're dialing from Thailand)
3.      OCPD ACP Zainal Abidin
        Stadium Police Station
        Fax: ++ 603 202 3237 (093 if you're dialing from Thailand)

Please also email or fax a copy of your protest to <altsean@xxxxxxxxxx> /
fax: ++ 66 2 693 4515 or <wkpeng@xxxxxxxxxxxx> / fax: ++ 603 794 3526.

THANKS FROM THE DETAINEES AND PRO-BURMA ACTIVISTS IN THE REGION TO THOSE WHO
HAVE SHOWN CONCERN AND SOLIDARITY. WE COUNT UPON YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT.

*******************************************

THE NATION: NEW MEMBERS FACE STRICTER PROCEDURES
June 1, 1997
Kulachada Chaipipat
 
KUALA LUMPUR - Laos, Cambodia and Burma must still sign 11 protocols and
agreements, including commitments to the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta),
before they are admitted into the grouping as a member in July, an Asean
source said yesterday. The source said the requirements had been recently
conceived as a means of ensuring the prospective members' commitment to the
regional grouping.

Since the admission of Vietnam in July 1995, the procedures and criteria for
the admission of new members have been made stricter to ensure that new
members cannot avoid their responsibilities.

Vietnam signed the Agreement on Enhancing Asean Economic Cooperation and the
Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff Scheme for Afta a few
months after its admission.

The three applicant nations recently sent separate letters to Malaysia,
chairman of Asean this year, confirming their economic commitment, which
included granting most favoured nation status to all Asean members and
reducing tariffs on specific products imported from Asean members.

When admitted, each country will be able to select the products it would
like included or excluded in a tariff reduction scheme beginning in January
of 1998. They must submit their proposed lists at the meeting of Asean
economic ministers in September of this year.

The three countries have been given until 2008 to bring tariffs down to
between zero and five per cent, while current Asean members are scheduled to
achieve the target by the year 2003. Vietnam will complete its tariff
reduction programme in 2006.

The three countries' commitment to economic cooperation was a crucial factor
in Asean ministers' decision yesterday to admit them in July.

Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasan said yesterday that the decision had
hinged on a detailed report of their readiness and on the requirements Asean
believed the new members should meet.

According to the report, submitted by the Asean Secretariat, Burma is the
strongest candidate in terms of economic stability and human resources.
Although Cambodia and Laos are fully committed to living up to their
economic obligations, the report said, they are lacking in human resources.

However, membership in Asean would entitle the three countries to technical
and financial assistance from donors, aid and lending agencies such as the
United Nations Development Programme and the Asian Development Bank.
     
******************************************

THAILAND TIMES: CHANNEL DREDGING WILL NOT UPSET RELATIONS: CHETTHA
June 1, 1997

BANGKOK/TAK: Army Chief Chettha Thanajaro yesterday assured that
Thai-Burmese relations will not be affected by the recent channel
digging dispute at an islet in the Moei River. 
     
"The event occurred because we hadn't made clear agreements," said the
chief, adding that he personally saw this as non-threatening to the
territorial situation.

He added that he receives regular reports of the situation by the Royal Thai
Army (RTA) who were stationed near the Kok Chang Phuak islet.

"The Burmese government apologized to us, and there are signs of
cooperation," he said, adding that they must abide by a treaty that was
drawn up previously or else agree upon a new one.

He added that the frequent trouble of the river changing its course often
contributed to new border disputes. But he confirmed that the earth moving
equipment that was confiscated by the RTA is expected to be returned and the
troops deployed in the disputed area had reportedly withdrawn.

He also said that he was in continuous contact with the Burmese Army chief
Maung Aye and that the latter had invited him to inspect the disputed site.
     
"I will directly consult him for a new round of negotiations, and I believe
good relations will be the outcome of this," Chettha said.

The Thai-Burmese Joint Border Committee yesterday sent a petition demanding
Myawwaddy authorities to move out of the embankment that was blocking the
Moei River which flows between the two countries, according to a Thai border
source.
     
Originally, Burmese embankments were built to alter the river's course to
flow into Thailand's channel under  the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge. And
up until now, both countries had negotiated   the river issue, however
recently things came to another logger head.

Meanwhile the authorities of Myawaddy will not  withdraw the embankments
until Rangoon sends out the signal.

*****************************************************

ASIA TIMES: EVEN THE HEROIN TRADE HAS BEEN AFFECTED  
BY GLOBALIZATION     
May 27, 1997 
Thomas Fuller and Dan Eaton 
 
   The drug heroin has been around for nearly 100 years. In the first of a 
three-part series, Asia Times' Thomas Fuller and Dan Eaton look at how  
abuse of this powerful narcotic has become a global menace despite the  
efforts of international law enforcement to contain the problem. 
   "It used to be an American problem, and you always used to hear that if  
the Americans would stop using the drug then we wouldn't produce it,"  
said a senior United States anti-narcotics official in Bangkok. 
   "Well, you don't hear that any more."  
   Heroin has gone global. Trafficking routes for the drug - once relatively 
simple arrows on a map - have splintered and multiplied. 
   Countries previously untouched by heroin addiction now have fast- 
spreading drug problems, said International Narcotics Control Board  
official Bunsom Martin. "There is no good news," he said. 
    Thailand has 500,000 addicts and China, by one estimate, a million.  
Even relatively poor Vietnam has 180,000 addicts, according to  
Vietnamese officials. A court in Hanoi earlier this month sentenced eight  
people to death in what was Vietnam's largest drug trafficking trial; two  
men were convicted of masterminding the smuggling of 300 kilogram of  
the opium-based drug. 
    "It is now very much an Asian problem, perhaps more so than it is a US 
problem," the US official said. "While we used to ask the Asians to help us,  
we are now basically helping each other." 
    Thailand, he added, had more heroin addicts per capita than the US. 
    Ironically, many of these new heroin markets are developing as a result  
of the surrender of Myanmar drug warlord Khun Sa. Successful efforts in  
shutting down his organization have led to what the US official called the 
"regionalization of the problem", with smaller operations inheriting Khun  
Sa's business and forging new trade routes. 
    "There is no one route," the US official said. "What we have seen is that 
China has emerged as a much more significant transshipment country for  
heroin moving out of Burma. Thailand still plays a very important role. We  
are also seeing Indochina emerge more significantly." 
    The new routes have resulted in what Bengt Juhlin, a top official at the 
United Nations Drug Control Program, called "pockets of heroin use" in  
China's main cities. "This is very much a result of trafficking going  
through that way and also because of the rapid [economic] development." 
    In Beijing earlier this month, an official from the Public Security
Bureau, China's internal intelligence agency, said cheap heroin was flooding
the capital. 
    "The problem of drugs has returned to China with a vengeance," deputy 
director Ruan Zhengyi was quoted as saying. 
    A spokesman for the bureau said heroin was coming both from Central  
Asia and the Golden Triangle - where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand  
and Laos meet. 
    The Golden Triangle has served for two decades as the world's most  
important source of heroin. The global domination of the region's ethnic  
Chinese traffickers and chemists started in the 1970s with the successful  
dismantling by police of a French narcotics network known as the French  
connection. 
    But today, Golden Triangle traffickers have been getting a run for their 
money in the past few years as drug networks, following the example of  
global manufacturers, are globalizing. Afghanistan's opium production has  
doubled in the past decade, and according to UN estimates is now rivaling  
that of Myanmar, the world's largest producer. 
    "In very general terms, Afghanistan's heroin goes to Europe and the  
Golden Triangle's goes to the American continent and partially to Europe  
and Asia. Obviously proximity is the main reason," Juhlin said. 
    Latin America's cocaine cartels have also come into the act, using their 
networks to supply the US market, according to the US Drug Enforcement 
Administration. 
    With producers closer to each market, there has been one clear  
consequence: Heroin is in ample supply. Individual seizures by anti- 
narcotics police no longer seem to affect prices in the same way busts did  
10 or 20 years ago. And heroin purity - once standard at five or 10 percent  
in developed markets - has reached 40 to 60 percent in the US. 
    "Heroin is cheaper and more available in the States than it has ever
been, measured by price and purity," said the US official. 
    One reason for the cheaper heroin, officials have said, is that there are  
now often fewer intermediaries getting the drugs to market from Latin  
America. 
    The cartels' well developed trafficking networks and infrastructure have 
given them a competitive edge in the US market over the famed Golden  
Triangle networks half a world away, according to officials. 
    In 1993, when a method was developed for detecting the chemical  
"signature" distinguishing South American heroin from the Asian variety,  
the US Drug Enforcement Administration calculated that 15 percent of  
heroin seized in the US originated in South America. 
    By 1995, seizures of South American heroin, primarily Colombian, had  
more than quadrupled. The DEA estimated that last year more than 60  
percent of heroin in the US originated in Colombia. 
    Southeast Asia's decline as the US' primary heroin laboratory "is a  
question of normal business operations", the UN's Juhlin said in Bangkok.  
"South America has the most secure channel for shipment and has the  
most reliable people. There are more steps involved in the process of  
getting it out from here [Southeast Asia]. That brings more risk." 
    Senior US officials have said the loose configuration of Asian drug 
syndicates is less efficient than South American cartels. 
    "[In Colombia] you have one organization controlling every aspect of the
cocaine trade, from growing it, refining it, transporting it [to] the  
wholesale distribution," said the senior US anti-narcotics official in  
Bangkok. 
    Networks working out of the Golden Triangle, however, were much more
fragmented, he said, requiring a string of payments that ultimately  
increased the cost of heroin when it finally reached the market. 
    According to the DEA, heroin's popularity is on the increase, partly  
because the US' two million-plus cocaine addicts are now also using  
heroin, supplied through the same channels. The heroin cushions the  
"crash" that follows the euphoria produced by crack cocaine. 
    In addition, the high street-level purity of Colombian heroin allows it to  
be snorted like cocaine, ridding users of the fear of contracting AIDS from 
infected needles. 
 
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ASIAWEEK: BEYOND SANCTIONS
June 6,1997

Investors can help break Myanmar's political gridlock

James Finch, An American lawyer, is managing partner of the Yangon 
office of Russin & Vecchi 

Perhaps the only surprise in the U.S.imposition of economic sanctions
against Myanmar on April 22 was that the boom had not been lowered 
months before. Key policymakers in the clinton administration, including
Secretary of State Madeleine Ambassador to the U.N.Bill Richardson and
Secretary  of Defense William S. Cohen, have long attached considerable
political and career importance on ending the suffering and political
stalemate in Myanmar.

What do the sanctions do and hope to achieve? They are contained in the
Cohen - Feinstein Amendment, a Senate bill signed into law by president
Clinton as part of the 1997 Appropriations Act. The Amendment makes 
the sanctions conditional on a finding by the president that Aung San Suu
Kyi has been harmed or that large - scale repression or political violence
has been committed against the democratic opposition. These conditions are
so general as to have been triggered any day after the  bill became law.

The odd thing about the sanctions is that they don't apply to much. The 
only prohibition is on new investment by Americans with the Myanmar 
government or Burmese companies in "the economic development of resources
located in Myanmar." Excepted are contracts to purchase goods, services or
technology. The president's executive order muddies the eaters by attempting
to broaden the sanctions. It recognises the exemptions but defines
"resources" in a way which could be interpreted to include them. The
consequences of this sloppy drafting may nave to be resolved in the courts,
as an executive order cannot exceed the reach of a law on which it is based.

In any case, what the sanctions do not do seems more significant than what
they do. They do not, like some U.S. state and local ordinances designed to
punish Myanmar, make any attempt to prohibit the activities of non - U.S.
business interests. When the legal smoke and dust settle from the executive
order it will likely be determined that U.S. companies can start or continue
virtually all activities except new deals to extract natural resources such
as oil and gas or timber.

What happens now? It is unlikely that the U.S. sanctions alone can break 
the political stalemate. Though not prohibited, foreign business is
reluctant to invest, as it has been for some time. Of course, economic
limits on the
development of a nation of any kind have the disadvantage of being
disproportionately severe on the lowest rungs of the economic strata. While
the high- minded arguments continue, the yearly per capitaincome in 
Myanmar remains low, with all the attendant human suffering.

Can investors in Myanmar help break the political gridlock? Something 
akin to the Sullivan Principles, used to eliminate apartheid in south Africa,
could be tried in Myanmar. The sullivan Principles were a voluntary code 
of conduct for foreign companies adopted by some doing business in south
Africa. These companies were monitored for compliance by an 
independent consultant. The practice provided an alternative for foreign
companies to quitting the country. They were able to continue operating,
avoiding the disruption and job loss caused by closure. And by complying
with the principles they became part of the solution of the larger problems
of the country.

A program could be devised which would use economic growth to improve
Myanmar's human rights record. The first step is that both the National
League for Democracy, in the person of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the State 
Law and Order Restoration Council would nave to agree on voluntary
principles to which foreign companies would adhere. One benefit of this
procedure would be, of course, ,to get the parties talking.

By 1990s standards, the Sullivan Principles are pretty tame stuff and
basically are contained in internal standards requiring many companies to 
be "equal opportunity employers." The content of the principles for Myanmar
would be a matter for negotiation. Some key provisions:

* A prohibition on forced or child labor and on any company which uses 
such labor.

* A prohibition on dealing with local partners or contractors suspected of
operating with laundered drug funds.

* A ban against engaging in corrupt practices. Hiring a balance of ethnic
groups and not discriminating in hiring political affiliation.

* Using a portion of profits generated locally to support NGO projects such
as combating malnutrition or AIDS prevention.

* Meeting the highest standard of environmental practices.

* Compulsory periodic meetings with representatives of both political 
camps to discuss progress on the principles and other matters.

The program should add to the stability of Myanmar. The country's several
ethnic groups are being held together by the iron hand of the military. If
this rule is lifted, with the gradual onset of democracy there is real
danger that the country will degenerate into ethnic splintering and
bloodletting. Foreign companies, creating Jobs and economic 
advancement, offer on attractive alternative to these all-too-familiar ills.(AW)

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