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[sayagyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Some interesting opinions on the Asianweek
 
That ASEAN-EU Hassle
Don't expect the postponed meeting between the European Union and ASEAN to
come about any time soon. The session was canceled in November because the
Europeans refused to sit at the table with new ASEAN member Myanmar,
although they have little trouble breaking bread with other authoritarian
Southeast Asian regimes. It was rescheduled for February, but both sides
have dug in their heels even deeper on the Myanmar question. And Thailand
-which was to host the meeting - is quietly relieved not to have to carry
any additional expenses these days. The Thais are so strapped for cash
that for the coming year they intend to defer many diplomatic postings
overseas just to save a few million dollars.
 
Few ASEAN states see much mileage in getting together with the Europeans
as a group anyway. All sides seem to do well enough handling trade and
diplomatic issues bilaterally. And as for ASEAN's concern that Myanmar not
be isolated, Burmese officials in Yangon say the EU policy of not granting
visas to officials working for the ruling SPDC is usually not enforced.
Whenever they request visas for European countries, they seem to get them
with little dealy.
 
 
Kenichi Ohmae on Myanmar
In his essay, "1997: Year of traisition," Kenichi Ohmae claims that "the
West knows about Myanmar through one person, Aung San Suu Kyi," and
continues: "The obsession with Suu Kyi is a natural one if you understand
the US.. Americans love elections. Just as Myanmar is Buddhist, and
Malaysia is Islamic, American has religion called Democracy" [Asia's
Biggest & Best, 1997]. Ohmae may be correct in that most Americans and
Europeans see the political crisis in Mynamr largely in terms of the 1991
Nobel Peace Prize winner.
 
But if Suu Kyi and the election which her party won in May 1990 were the
only things to criticize about the military regime, the situation would be
bad enough. The fact is the junta with the new sugar-coated name SPDC is
one of the world's most oppressive, Ohmae should go to the Thai-Myanmar
border area and learn how the SPDC is doing "ethnic cleansing" in areas
where the Karen, Shan and other minorities live, rather than sit in an
air-conditioned seminar room in Yangon with other businessmen listening to
the regime's pep talks. 
 
It's unfortunate that Asiaweek could not find a spokesperson more
representatives of Japan's informed and moderate opinion. Anyone reading
Ohmae's commitments might conclude that just as Myanmar is Buddhist, and
Malaysia is Islamic, Japan has a religion called money.
 
Donald M. Seekins
Okinawa
Japan.
 
Kenichi Ohmae's eloquent Essay captured my attention. especially poignant
was his view that we Asians have to arm ourselves with the capability to
communicate with the West. We must not forget, however, that Aisa is
large, both geographically and culturally. The people of the Indian
subcontinent, west Asia and central Asia have every right to toil
alongside and enjoy the fruits of the labor as much as we in the east-
seemingly the leading geese at the moment.
 
Despite the setbacks in 1997, I still hold tight to the notion that I was
born in the right place at the right time- in the late 1960's in Asia. The
biggest challenge for my cohort is to take 1997's lessons as a reminders
of our "vincibility," to dig deep into the strength and fortitude of our
forebears and go forth wiser.
Joe Boy Tay
Singapore.
 
Myanmar's renamed rulers
 
Since 1962, the Burmese military junta has ruled under different names and
guises [THE NATIONS, Non.28]. First it was the Revolutionary Council in
1962, followed by the Burmese way to Socialism. Then in 1988, the uglu
SLORC was born. SPDC is the latest gimmick. A junta by any other name
would as bad.
 
U Hla Shwe
Federation for Human Rights
and Democracy in Burma
Long Beach, California.



Burma Info.
New Delhi
India.