The BurmaNet News - 19 February, 19

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------------------------------ BurmaNet -----------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies
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The BurmaNet News, 19 February, 1998
Issue #938

Noted in passing:

"The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)... has been constituted to
impart more dynamism in our efforts to attain our goal of 
a modern developed state with a disciplined democratic system,"
SPDC Senior General Than Shwe (see REUTERS: MYANMAR 
TELLS MANILA DISCIPLINED DEMOCRACY NEEDED)

HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS: MYANMAR OPPOSITION CLAIMS MP JAILED BY
REUTERS: MANILA SAYS MYANMAR JUNTA TALKING TO
REUTERS: MYANMAR TELLS MANILA DISCIPLINED
THE HINDU: RIGHTS GROUP DENOUNCES VIOLENCE IN
KYODO NEWS SERVICE: PHILIPPINES, MYANMAR SIGN TRADE
REUTERS: SWISS-LED BALLOONISTS COMPENSATE BURMESE
THE NATION: BURMA REMAINS A THORN IN ASEAN-US
NLM: MYANMAR ENTHUSIASTICALLY INVOLVED IN ASEAN
THE NATION: REPORT WARNS SALWEEN SCANDAL 
THE FDL-AP QUARTERLY: BURMA AS AN INTERNATIONAL 
XINHUA NEWS: AUSTRALIA TO CULTURE, PRODUCE PEARL IN
NLM: NEED TO STEP UP FIGHT AGAINST AIDS STRESSED
FBC: RESPONSE TO "THE BURMESE FAIRY TALE"

Announcements:
STUDENT AND YOUTH CONGRESS OF BURMA CONFERENCE
THE AKHA HERITAGE FOUNDATION
BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN: CALL TO HELP THE MON
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REUTERS: MYANMAR OPPOSITION CLAIMS MP JAILED BY JUNTA
18 February, 1998 [abridged]

YANGON -- Myanmar's (Burma's) main opposition party said the
ruling military government had jailed an opposition parliamentarian 
for a township in northeastern Kayin state. 

Three opposition members had also been detained in another township, 
the National League for Democracy (NLD) said in a statement late on Tuesday. 

The MP, Nan Khin Htwe Myint, was arrested at Thaton Station in the
southeastern Mon state on February 10 while travelling to a political meeting.

She was given a two-year jail term in a closed trial and sent to a prison
in Mon on February 11, the NLD said. 

The MP had earlier had an argument with intelligence officers when 
they searched her belongings. 

"The authorities arrested her in Thaton on February 10 and sentenced 
her to two-year's imprisonment under Section 353, charging her for 
disturbing public servants on duty. There was no witness and lawyer 
at her trial," the NLD said. 

Three other party members from Pathein Township were detained by 
police after making a report that their party and the national flags 
hoisted at the local NLD office had been stolen on Union Day on 
February 12. 

A government spokesman told Reuters that legal action had been 
taken against the NLD members. 

"It is learnt that legal action had been taken against these persons a 
week ago by the relevant township courts for the crime they had committed,"
he said without elaborating. 

He also said that the NLD had released the news to coincide with the
visit of the Chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development 
Council (SPDC), Senior General Than Shwe, to the Philippines and 
create embarrassment for the government. 

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

REUTERS: MANILA SAYS MYANMAR JUNTA TALKING TO OPPONENTS
18 February, 1998 [abridged]
by Ruben Alabastro

MANILA -- Philippine President Fidel Ramos said on Wednesday
Myanmar's (Burma's) ruling military junta was holding low-level 
meetings with the opposition which could lead to talks between 
leaders of the two sides. 

"What we are seeing now is the dialogues are taking place at lower 
levels building up to the very top of the leadership," he told reporters 
after a round of golf with visiting Myanmar Prime Minister Than Shwe. 

"I think these are very good developments," Ramos added, but he 
gave no details. 

There have been no reports recently of any meeting between 
Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and 
the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). It was 
not clear what talks Ramos was referring to. 

Yangon's military rulers late last year invited the NLD for talks but 
refused to allow opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu 
Kyi to participate. NLD rejected the offer. 

Ramos and Than Shwe, who is chairman of the SPDC, have met three
times since the Myanmar leader arrived on Tuesday for a three-day visit 
but no details have been released on what they discussed. 

Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said on Tuesday Manila would 
try to encourage Myanmar to pursue national reconciliation. 

Than Shwe's visit coincided with reports from Yangon that the military 
rulers had jailed four opposition members, including a parliamentarian, 
in two townships. 

Manila has privately expressed concern about arrests of opposition 
members in Myanmar, saying such incidents could strain the relations 
of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) with other countries. 

A handful of demonstrators unfurled banners condemning human rights 
violations in Myanmar when Than Shwe on Wednesday laid a wreath 
at the monument to Philippine freedom hero Jose Rizal. 

Police seized the streamers and shooed away the protesters. 

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

REUTERS: MYANMAR TELLS MANILA DISCIPLINED DEMOCRACY NEEDED
17 February, 1998 [abridged]
by Ruben Alabastro

MANILA -- The Philippines on Tuesday urged visiting Myanmar
(Burma) leader Than Shwe to reconcile with his political foes, and 
police tried to shield him from protesters by slipping the general 
through the side door of his hotel. 

Apparently responding to Manila's call for increased contacts between
Myanmar's ruling military junta and its opponents, Prime Minister 
Than Shwe told his hosts that his country's goal was a modern state 
under disciplined democracy. 

"The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the new government 
comprising many new members from the younger generation has been 
constituted to impart more dynamism in our efforts to attain our goal
of a modern developed state with a disciplined democratic system,"
Than Shwe said at state banquet in his honour. 

Yangon's (Rangoon) military regime was previously called the State 
Law and Order Restoration Council until it was renamed the SPDC 
after a reshuffle of key military figures in government. 

Than Shwe, who is also SPDC chairman, went into talks with 
President Fidel Ramos soon after arriving for a three-day visit. 

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs indicated one of its 
major concerns about Myanmar was to see peace between its ruling 
junta and the opposition National League for Democracy led by Nobel 
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. 

"The Department reiterated the Philippines' support for the efforts of the
Myanmar government towards national reconciliation,'' the department 
said in a statement. 

"The Philippine government encourages the Myanmar government to double 
its efforts for the accomplishment of this noble objective,'' it 
added. 

At the banquet, Ramos said the Philippines was ready to help Myanmar 
develop into a "progressive and multi-party democratic state under a 
new state constitution."

In October Ramos became the first leader of the Association of South 
East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to visit Yangon after it joined the regional 
grouping last July. 

"You can be assured that...the Philippine government and the president 
will try to encourage our friends from Myanmar to pursue their efforts 
towards national reconciliation...(the) bringing together of all sides,"
Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon told reporters. 

The European Union last year refused to attend a meeting with 
ASEAN officials because of Myanmar's presence. 

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

THE HINDU: RIGHTS GROUP DENOUNCES VIOLENCE IN MYANMAR
17 February, 1998

Manila -- An Asian women's rights group today denounced unabated
violence perpetrated by Myanmar's military junta against its people,
particularly women and ethnic communities, and demanded immediate
changes in the Government.

At the start of the three-day visit to Manila by Myanmar's senior
General Than Shwe, the Asian Women's Human Rights Council 
(AWHRC) said the root cause of the violence and crisis affecting the 
Myanmarese people was the Myanmarese Government.
 
Consequently, AWHRC urges the Philippine Government and other
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asian countries 
To bring pressure to bear on the Myanmarese Government to restore 
peace and human rights in Burma, the council said.

In a statement released before Gen. Than Shwe was to arrive in Manila,
the AWHRC said the change in the name of the notorious State Law 
and Order Restoration Council"(SLORC) into the State Peace and Development 
Council (SPDC) did not mean anything.
 
"There has been no change in the practice of ethnic persecution nor
have we seen any initiatives from the ruling Myanmarese Government 
to alleviate the violence conditions in which the Myanmarese people
live," the Council said.

The group said torture, forced labor, illegal detention, rape of
Myanmarese women, suppression of political and personal freedom, summary
executions and annihilation of ethnic communities were still 
being systematically carried out by the SPDC.  (DPA)

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

KYODO NEWS SERVICE: PHILIPPINES, MYANMAR SIGN TRADE, CULTURAL ACCORD
17 February, 1998 [abridged]

MANILA -- The head of Myanmar's ruling military regime, Senior Gen. Than
Shwe, arrived Tuesday in Manila for a three-day state visit aimed 
at strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations amid protests by
critics of the junta. 

Philippine President Fidel Ramos and Than Shwe saw the signing of four
trade and cultural agreements, including one to promote and protect
investments in both Myanmar and the Philippines. 

"We welcome this agreement to promote and protect investments. 
Equally delighted are Filipino executives who have witnessed the tremendous
business potential in Myanmar," Ramos said. 

The Philippines agreed to provide 5 million pesos (123,000 U.S. 
dollars) worth of scholarship funds to train at least 60 Myanmar 
nationals, including military officers and journalists, over a two-year 
period. An agreement to facilitate exchanges of diplomats and 
military officers between the two countries was also signed. 

Both countries agreed to promote art and culture through exchange 
of information, experts, books and other materials to enhance cultural
understanding between the two peoples. 

Aside from economic matters, Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon
said Ramos and Than Shwe talked about ''national reconciliation efforts''
of the Myanmar regime. 

Ramos, in his bilateral meeting with Than Shwe, reiterated the Philippines'
offer to help Myanmar in its efforts to ''make peace with all sectors in
society'' and build ''systems and structures that will form the basis of a
peaceful, progressive, stable and democratic nation.'' 

Meantime, about 20 pro-democracy Filipinos, protested in front of the 
hotel where Than Shwe and his 47-member delegation are staying. The
protesters, urged Than Shwe to honor the results of the 1990 elections 
won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. They 
carried banners which read ''Free Burma, not Free Trade.'' Another 
placard showed a picture of Than Shwe splashed with the slogan ''Democracy
in Burma.'' 

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

REUTERS: SWISS-LED BALLOONISTS COMPENSATE BURMESE FARMER
18 February, 1998 [abridged]

GENEVA -- Swiss-led balloonists have compensated a Burmese peasant 
for damage they have caused to his bean crop after their hot air balloon 
landed in his fields earlier this month.. 

Their spokesman declined to say how much money was paid to the
peasant after the trio of balloonists landed at the village of Othegon,
northwest of Yangoon, in Burma (Myanmar) Feb. 7 at the end of a
failed attempt to circle the globe. 

************************************************************
 
THE NATION: BURMA REMAINS A THORN IN ASEAN-US DIALOGUE
18 February, 1998
by Kavi Chongkitiavorn

Once again, Asean's relations with the US are under stress as
their bilateral forum, the Asean-US Dialogue has been delayed.
The US has been reluctant to host the two-year event due to the
admission of Burma as a member of Asean last year.

The dialogue forum, which was initiated in 1977, provides a venue
for  both sides to discuss a whole gamut of issues related to
Asean-US ties. The 12 previous meetings, which were hosted
alternatively by the US and Asean countries, were convened during
a time of few problems.

However, Burma's membership in Asean last July changed all that.

Following the postponement of the Asean-European Union joint
committee meeting last November over a similar dispute concerning
Burma's status, Washington said in private it would like to host
the dialogue outside the US.

Washington has informed Malaysia, the Asean coordinator of the
dialogue, that because of the current visa ban imposed on Burmese
officials representing the State Peace and Development Council,
as the  Rangoon; government is known, the meeting could not
proceed as planned.

The move has left Asean at a loss over what to do as the member
countries do not know the details or scope of the US visa ban. At
an informal meeting among Asean senior officials in New Delhi
recently, Burmese officials pointed out that the US visa
restrictions apply only to a select group of officials above the
senior official level and military personnel above the level of
brigadier general.

That would mean that Washington could go ahead with the meeting
with senior officials from Burma attending the forum.

However, Malaysia has sought further clarification from
Washington on this point before Asean decides if the Asean-US
Dialogue is to be held outside the US or in Washington, where it
was scheduled to be held.

Asean is working on three options.

The first is to stick to the original location, the US, with the
participation of Burmese  officials from its mission in
Washington. This way, it will save Washington from the further
embarrassment of issuing new visas.

Two other options would require cooperation from the Philippines.
Manila would host the forum either with the attendance of Burmese
diplomats stationed in Manila or with officials directly flying
in from Rangoon. The first approach ensures that the US officials
will participate in the dialogue while the second approach is to
make sure that the Burmese representation. from Rangoon will be
present at the meeting.

Of late, the Philippines has promoted its ties with Burma, whose
leaders, including chairman of the  SPDC, Than Shwe, are
currently visiting the Philipines. 
     
Although it is Washington's desire to have the meeting hosted in
the Philippines, right after the senior officials meeting of the
Asean- Regional Forum (ARF) due in Cebu in May, Asean is not
happy with the compromise. 

For one thing, Asean is worried it could serve as a precedent
for other dialogue partners. "What would we do, if other dialogue
partners follow suit," complained an Asean official. Apart from
the post ministerial meeting, Asean holds a separate bilateral
meeting with its dialogue partners comprising Australia, Canada,
New Zealand, the EU, Japan, South Korea, China, Russia and India.

Asean also feels that if the meeting is held within the US,
Washington will pay more attention and its senior officials will
make every effort to take part in the meeting. In the past,
whenever the meeting was held outside Washington, the US has
often been represented by lower level delegates.

There are also grumblings in the Asean capitals that the US
should not be so fussy about Burma's participation in the
Asean-US Dialogue. After all, US State Secretary Madeleine
Albright has already sat in the same room with the Burmese
representatives at the ARF in Kuala Lumpur.

Without a quick resolution to the Asean-US Dialogue problem, the
pending Asean-EU joint committee meeting due to be held in
several months could be jeopardised. Both Asean and the EU would
like to resume high-level contacts as soon as possible, but there
has not been any progress on the Burma sticking point.

Asean has been urging the EU to convene meetings at the working
group and technical group levels to break the impasse, otherwise
the overall Asean EU relationship will not be able to move
forward. Since the postponement, the two sides have been
searching for a way out of their predicament.

Both sides have said they would like to see the meeting being
held before the second Asia-Europe Meeting on April 2-4 in
London, which looks increasingly impossible.

Strange as it may seem, though, Asean-US relations are not as
important as they should be. In fact, Asean's bilateral ties with
other dialogue partners, such as Australia, are more significant.

At the moment, there is only one cooperation  programme under the
Asean\ US Dialogue, called the Environment initiative, which was
put in place in 1992 and will end in June. Washington has yet
come up with a new idea to rejuvenate this bilateral procedure.

In light of what has occurred in the financial world of Asean
in-the past months, Asean is hoping to raise this issue and
discuss it at length in the dialogue forum. Asean would like the
US to spell out its cooperative  efforts.

In the past, the two sides have discussed the situation in Burma
and Cambodia including narcotic suppression cooperation.

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

NLM: MYANMAR ENTHUSIASTICALLY INVOLVED IN ASEAN ACTIVITIES
17 February, 1998 [abridged]

YANGON, 16 Feb-The ASEAN Leading Committee held its fifth 
meeting at the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army), Ministry 
of Defence, at 8 am today addressed by Chairman of the Leading Committee
Secretary- 1 of the State Peace and Development Council
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt.

In his address the Secretary-l said Myanmar's membership in the 
ASEAN will be one year by July. Myanmar would be found to be 
actively engaged in ASEAN activities even before its membership, 
he said.

He noted that Myanmar's active involvement has been evident at 
ASEAN meetings and in almost all the activities organized by the 
ASEAN. He also cited regular sector-wise functions of various 
committees formed under the respective ministries.

Myanmar's enthusiastic involvement in the ASEAN is more evident 
through its sending delegates to the ASEAN meetings and activities, 
he said.

He spoke of the need for those who had taken part in the meetings or
ceremonies to report back not only on the meetings they had attended 
but also on the current social and economic conditions in the ASEAN nations
and the way they sought solutions to economic problems. 
Moreover, he said, they had to make the world know political, economic and
social changes in the home country.

He urged them to take note of preparations, displays and proceedings of
The meetings they had attended in order that the country may successfully
and smoothly host similar meetings.

He observed that since Myanmar youths have won first, second prizes in 
the essay, art, photo and song competitions organized by ASEAN nations, the
thinking power and language skills of Myanmar youths is not below 
the standard.

He said the group opposed to the government alleged that education standard
in the country is getting low, that the intellectual level of the students
is on the decrease due to lack of government support in education and that
teachers are not qualified. However, he said, good performance of Myanmar
youths as such have made obvious that their allegations are false. More
proper arrangements need be made to achieve greater success, he said.

He also spoke of the need to include programmes to enable foreign
participants to witness and realize the objective political, economic and
social developments and Myanma cultural standard when they come here 
to attend meetings hosted by Myanmar.

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

THE NATION: REPORT WARNS SALWEEN SCANDAL 
THREATENS NATIONAL SECURITY 
18 February, 1998
by Preecha Sa-Ardsorn

SERIOUS national security problems could possibly flare up at any time 
if the illegal logging in the Salween National Park, an operation which 
needs to employ Burmese minority groups, continues unimpeded, 
according to a police report.

According to the report, compiled by Pol Gen Salang Bunnag, an 
assistant police chief in his capacity as head of the Police 
Department's anti-deforestation force, the illicit business is not 
only devastating Thailand's forests, but also contributing to the 
uneasy situation on the Thai-Burmese border.

The recent investigation into the illegal logging in Salween Wildlife 
Sanctuary and Salween National Park in Mae Hong Son revealed that 
the operation was the biggest since commercial logging was banned 
in 1989. The operation involved various groups, including Burmese and 
Thai officials, the report said.

The long-standing scandal was rekindled last week when Forestry 
Department Deputy Director General Prawat Thanadkha decided to 
donate Bt5 million to the Thai-Help-Thai campaign. He claimed that 
the money was left at his house as a bribe for him. Although he 
declined to elaborate on who tried to bribe him, public and media 
attention immediately focused on the Salween scandal, and Prawat 
himself did not deny the reports.  

The large-scale destruction of the forests had been in operation for 
three years, covering vast areas of Ban Ta Fang, Ban Mae Sa Kerb, 
Ban Sob Ngae, and Ban Chob Tha along the Salween River in Mae Sariang 
district, the report said.

Normally, logging operators recruited both Buddhist and Christian
Karens -Burmese minority groups who have been waging wars against
each other. The firms would pay them one-third of the wages in advance 
and the balance after the logs had been transported from Burma to 
Thailand, the report said.

Although most of the timber was cut in the Thai forests, they were 
floated along the Salween River to Burma and then shipped back to 
Thailand again. The process would allow the timber to get a stamp 
and certificate of Burmese origin.

Apart from the Burmese ethnic minorities, a group of Thai people was 
also hired by unscrupulous logging firms to work in the illegal logging
industry. These people had good relations with Burmese military officers,
who in turn would facilitate the unlawful operation.

The local group was very influential and they usually resorted to violent 
means in dealing with Karen workers "They forced Karen people trying
to get refuge on Thai soil to work for them. If the immigrants refused, 
they would shoot the elephants the Karen brought along with  them," 
the report said.

In addition, they also pressured Thai officials, including the 
Anti-Deforestation Command (ADC) to cooperate with them.
     
Conflicts often sparked when timber shipped from Burma arrived on
Thai soil in Ban Ta Fang, an area dominated by Buddhist Karens. The 
Buddhist Karen usually opened fire if the loggers did not supply them 
with protection money.

Following the Prawat bribery controversy, the logging scandal 
intensified when Thaweesak Antha, a former police sergeant in Mae Sariang, 
handed out a list of people allegedly involved in the illegal 
logging to Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai.

Chuan, who was on an inspection trip  in Mae Sariang, was caught
off guard when Thaweesak told him that the list contained 15
names of those involved.

Thaweesak said that he had been assigned in 1994 to glean 
information about the illegal logging. However, he was forced to
quit his job after he submitted the details to his superiors. "I was 
accused [by my superiors] of being involved. But how could I catch 
a tiger cub, if I did not go inside the [tiger] cave," he told reporters.

Last-December Thaweesak submitted the same details to the
Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, however, he failed to get
any response.

In an interview with The Nation, Thaweesak said he spent several
months in the forest trying to get along with loggers and
traders. He said he had taken some photographs of the logging
process.

"I sent the photographs to the prime minister. I also wrote down
the details of each process in the pictures," he said. 

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

THE FDL-AP QUARTERLY: BURMA AS AN INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM
Winter 1998, vol. 3 no. 4
by Garry Woodward

In 1973 the Minister for Cooperatives in the Ne Win Government which ruled 
Burma for 26 years said to me that Burma was economically a poor country, but
the richest in insurgencies. After the military government changed hats and 
become the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), it managed to add 
new, interrelated afflictions to those perennial problems, making Burma
indubitably 'the sick man of Asia'. The illness cannot be cured merely by a
further change of hats, to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on 
the 15th of November. Skewed spending on military expansion at the expense of 
the social budget, and long periods of suspension of tertiary education,
are having disastrous and seemingly irreversible effects while military
rule lasts. 
In particular, on unpublished official figures, 1% of the population is HIV
positive and the last Australian Ambassador to Burma cited expert assessments 
that it was 'exposed to greater epidemic than perhaps any other country', and 
that 15% of children die before the age of five. Corruption, not usually a 
feature of Burmese society and traditions, is rampant.  Profits from the 
narcotics trade equal all legal exports and encourage fiscal indiscipline as 
well as degradation of business standards, which has damaged the reputation 
of overseas investors.

SLORC has achieved the distinction of being unanimously condemned every year 
since 1991 in the United Nations for human rights abuses and rejection of 
serious dialogue. Burma's neighbors are also directly effected by refugee 
outflows and the environmental effects of the rape of its non-renewable 
resources. SLORC has achieved the distinction of being unanimously condemned 
every year since 1991 in the United Nations for human rights abuses and 
rejection of serious dialogue with the lawfully elected National League for
Democracy (NLD). In short, Burma quintessentially typifies the new agenda
of international problems (except for nuclear proliferation) which has
succeeded 
the ideological straitjacket of the Cold War. With Burma's admission to
ASEAN, 
its problems, including the problem of legitimacy, have become ASEAN's. 

There has clearly been a mis-estimate on ASEAN's part, arising from allowing 
the emotions involved in its natural desire to round out regional membership 
on its 30th anniversary, and its commitment to the doctrine of
non-interference, to outweigh thinking through the wider implications of
expanded membership. 
For Burma, its hope that it would resolve the problem of its illegitimacy 
through membership of ASEAN has blown up in its face, demonstrated by the 
deadlock between ASEAN and the European Union (EU) over Burma's status at 
the 1998 round of ASEAN-European Union Consultations (ASEM). The stalemate 
is unlikely to be resolvable by diplomatic finesse.

But nor does it seem likely that the stalemate will be resolved by Burma
making the sort of moves which would make it acceptable to European (and
other non-ASEAN) opinion. The change of name from SLORC, which Secretary of 
State Madeleine Albright has described as 'an ugly acronym for an ugly
government', is cosmetic. It is new wine in old bottles. Or rather a more 
accurate metaphor is that it is a reordering of high-chairs on the
governmental gravy train, because it is clear that it was sparked by ASEAN
investors being ripped off. If 'constructive engagement' progressed to
marriage when Burma was admitted to ASEAN in July, the ASEAN partners are
now adjuring Burma 'thou shalt not cheat'.

The policy significance of the move is small but adverse. It was done at 
the behest of General Ne Win after he had talked to President Suharto. 
Because the realization has taken place at Ne Win's bidding, arguably the 
new generation of leaders is locked into the dynastic struggle between Ne Win
and the Aung San family. This struggle arises from face, the strongest
faction in Asia, and goes back well over half a century to differences
amongst the 'thirty comrades', to which Aung San Suu Kyi referred just
before her arrest in 1989.  Ne Win's recent crucial role puts to rest
speculation that he may have actually given up power when he announced his
retirement in 1988 (which he stoutly insisted he had in replying to an
appeal from former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1993). Because 
this reorganization has taken place at President Suharto's suggestion, it
reinforces the moral commitment of the ASEAN 'old guard' leaders to the 
Burmese military leadership. An emerging younger generation of ASEAN leaders 
could thus find their hands tied in trying to encourage greater pragmatism 
and open-mindedness. There had been encouraging signs in that direction, 
notably Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's statement that 
ASEAN needed to 'move from being a largely reactive organization' and to
'seriously consider the idea of 'constructive intervention', and his urging 
that the SLORC should be 'moving forward with its national reconciliation'. 
Anwar was associated in August with the new Thai Deputy Foreign Minister
Suukhumbhand Paribatra in convening a conference on 'constructive
engagement' which took account of criticisms of ASEAN's implementation of
it in Burma by President Clinton and Prime Minister Hashimoto.

It is sad that President Suharto on the other hand should be involved in the
consolidation of the Burmese military regime. It gives credence to the
SLORCs claim that it models itself on Indonesia. But when General Suharto
introduced Indonesia's 'New Order' after the excesses of the Sukarno era, he
did what the SLORC has resolutely refused to do, he gave the direction of
economic policy to Indonesian technocrats brought back from overseas (the
Berkeley Mafia) and he met with them regularly (though the Indonesians quip 
that it was not long before they were taking the notes). Sound economic 
policies made possible the formulation of the donor group the 
Inter-Governmental Group for Indonesia (IGGI), in which Australia played 
a leading role, and speeded Indonesia's recovery from bankruptcy. Sukarno's 
lavish spending on arms was abandoned. The World Bank's 1994 World
Development Report estimated Burma's ratio of defense expenditure to
combined health and education expenditure at 155, compared with Indonesia's
5. Burma's army, now larger than Indonesia's, is a force for oppressing,
not serving, the people.

Recent developments are unlikely to be welcomed by Australia, whose Foreign
Minister, Alexander Downer, had just sent an official envoy to explore
withthe SLORC the possibilities of it conducting real dialogue with the
civilian politicians, and then another envoy to reassure Aung San Suu Kyi
(who enjoys strong support in Australia) when SLORC tried to drive a wedge
between her and 
her NLD colleagues. Australia wants to work with ASEAN to influence the
course 
of developments in Burma but has had little success. It can play no role in 
ASEM, from which it has been blackballed by Malaysia, and in any case
Australian public opinion would sympathize with the EU on the issues
dividing it from ASEAN. It seems to have little choice but to wait and see
whether the new Thai 
Government can succeed in its aim that the SPDC should be 'more open', both 
to the world and to internal dialogue. It will then be a question whether
ASEAN will follow traditional practice and fully back Thailand as the front
line state. Meanwhile, the evidence that ASEAN is not immune from the
afflictions of its 
new, sick partner is unwelcome news for Australia, which in its first
Foreign Policy White Paper has re-emphasized its regional priorities.

[GARRY WOODARD is on the management committee of the Australian Chapter of 
the Forum of Democratic Leaders in the Asia-Pacific (FDL-AP). He is a member
of the Federal Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Senior Associate in Politics 
at Melbourne University, Immediate Past National President of the
Australian Institute of International Affairs, and a former Australian
Ambassador to 
China and Burma.] 

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

XINHUA NEWS: AUSTRALIA TO CULTURE, PRODUCE PEARL IN  MYANMAR  
11 February, 1998

An Australian company has reached a contract with Myanmar to jointly 
conduct pearl culture and production on a profit-sharing basis.  

Under the contract signed here Tuesday between the Atlantic Co. Ltd.
of Australia and the state-run  Myanmar Pearl Enterprise, the proposed 
pearl culture and production will be carried out in Myanmar's Tanintharyi
division in the southern part of the country, the official newspaper The 
New Light of  Myanmar  reported Wednesday.  

The Atlantic Co. Ltd. is the second foreign company to have reached such 
a contract with  Myanmar.  Japan's Tasaki Shinju initiated an agreement in 
March last year to carry out similar undertakings on the Myeik archipelago 
in the same division.  

According to official statistics,  Myanmar's cultured pearl production in
the 1996-97 fiscal year reached 7,332 momme (27.49 kilograms), while its
highest record was 17,840 momme (66.9 kilograms) in 1983-84. 

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NLM: NEED TO STEP UP FIGHT AGAINST AIDS STRESSED
17 February, 1998 [abridged]

YANGON, 16 Feb-The Central Committee for Prevention and 
Eradication of AIDS held its meeting No I /98 at the Medical 
Research Department on Ziwaka Street here this morning and 
Chairman of the Central Committee Minister for Health Maj-Gen 
Ket Sein delivered an address.

After becoming a member in the ASEAN Myanmar has to fight 
AIDS at home and in cooperation with ASEAN members, he said.

He said the Health Department's AIDS eradication programme is 
extensively undertaken throughout the nation with the help of 
government and UN agencies.

He said the programme covers very important tasks such as blood 
transfusion which is totally free from virus and constant monitoring 
on the rate of HIV infection and the spread of AIDS.

He said blood donated should be free from HIV virus. HIV tests 
alone would not be sufficient, he said. Proper checks are to be 
conducted to exclude those in window period, accompanied by 
measures to cause donor deferrals, he said.

He pointed out that 0.79 per cent of donors in Yangon were found to 
Have infected with HIV virus in September 1997 compared with 1.45 
per cent in Mandalay. The figure may be described as high in Myanmar 
where there is a considerable number of blood donors, he said.

Discussing the ill effects of AIDS, he said younger people lost their 
lives due to AIDS in some African nations and those countries were 
confronted with problems concerned with security and economic 
progress. 

Precautionary measures are being taken in Myanmar, he said. All those 
concerned should be mindful of the fact that AIDS is not necessarily a 
health problem.

He then called for greater efforts of departments, NGOs and wellwishers.

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FBC: RESPONSE TO "THE BURMESE FAIRY TALE"
17 February, 1998

Dear Fellow Free Burma Supporters and Organizers:

It is hardly surprising that Ma Thanegi's piece appears at a time when 
the SPADCO [Zarni's preferred usage] in Rangoon is spending hundreds of 
thousands of US dollars trying to re-build its PR image internationally. 
It's also reminiscient of the practices the old Burma Socialist Program 
Party (BSPP) regime (General Ne Win's dictatorship in socalist garb) aimed 
at co-opting the co-optable from within its opposition. Many student 
activists, former Polit Bureau members, old politicians, university 
academics, and writers and journalists entered symbiotic relationship 
with General Ne Win's Revolutionary Council government (later renamed BSPP).

The writer, Ma Thanegi, worked for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi before the former 
was put under house arrest on July 20, 1989 and spent 3 years in jail.  
She is widely believed to be compromised, politically, after her release 
from imprisonment, and  Daw Aung San Suu Kyi hand-picked other trustworthy
individuals as her aides.  Most of whom have been serving long-term
imprisonment (from 10-20 years with hard labor).  Among Daw Aung San 
Suu Kyi's aides who are in jail are Dr. Ma Thida, who is also a well-known
writer, U Aye Win, U Cho Aung Than, Daw Nge Ma Ma Than, and U Win Htein. 
Unlike Ma Theingi, these former aides, who are rather committed in their
opposition to the junta, are  still kept in capitivity despite their
reportedly poor health conditions. 

Ma Thanegi's close friend (and conceivably a collaborator in writing this
piece), Stephen Brookes, is Rangoon-based correspondent for Asia Times,
highly pro-business paper, and, naturally, has written numerous
anti-sanctions, pro-SLORC/SPADCO pieces.

Ma Thanegi is not the first one--nor will she be the last--to blame the
victims.  For those of us who have been involved in Burma's pro-democracy
movement since 1988, we have witnessed many former pro-democracy activists 
who have made about face and acted as spokespersons for the SLORC/SPADCO. 
Several names come to mind: Dr. Win Naing, a former leading pro-democracy 
activist in Japan, who now promotes trade and invesment in Burma among 
Japanese businesses, U Peter Tun Aung, another former pro-democracy activist 
who helped broker the sale of Burmese embassy in Tokyo between the SLORC
and Japanese buyer, U Aung San Oo, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's older brother, who, 
after having made unsuccesful attempts to lead Burmese expatriates in 
various parts of the world for pro-democracy activities  immediately after 
the massacres in Burma in 1988, has become being publicly very critical of 
the pro-democracy efforts by his own sister and hence now enjoys red- carpet
treatments by SPADCO/SLORC each time he returns to Burma in order to attend 
the Martyr's Day Commemoration every year.  Who knows what their ulterior 
motives might be or under what pressures they take these rather pathetic 
stance against pro-democracy movement, still disguising themselves as 
"PRO-DEMOCRACY and PRO-PEOPLE"?

To the best of our knowledge, no single pro-democracy activist who lives
(with the exception of a few top NLD leaders) in Burma can possibly publish
anything either domestically or internationally, without being dragged into 
jail, unless their writings serve the SPADCO's interests. 

Zarni
Free Burma Coalition

For those of you, who are interested in emailing letters-to-the-editor at
Far East Economic Review, here is the info:
letters@xxxxxxxx
Fax: 011-(852) 2503-1530 
By Mail: Review, GPO Box 160, Hong Kong
Include your name, address, and phone number.

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

ANNOUCEMENTS:

STUDENT AND YOUTH CONGRESS OF BURMA CONFERENCE
17 February, 1998

ATTENTION: ALL STUDENTS AND YOUTHS ORGANIZATION

We cordially invite you to attend the 2nd conference of SYCB as 
observers to be held on 22nd to 25th March 1998 at the Constitution 
Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi.

For further information please contact:

1) Ko Tun Tun Oo +91-11- 561 6888
2) Ko Chan Mya +91-11-555 7193
E-mail: sayagyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Conference Organizing Committee
Student and Youth Congress of Burma.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

THE AKHA HERITAGE FOUNDATION
8 February, 1998

If you are interested or concerned about the situation with the Akha 
and indigenous intellectual property rights and human rights under the 
UN Draft on Indigenous Human Rights give us a link.

http://www.thailine.com/akha   
or write:

Matthew McDaniel
The Akha Heritage Foundation
Akha University - Maesai
World's Smallest Tribal University
386/3 Sailom Joi Rd
Maesai, Chiangra, Thailand, 57130
----------------------------------------------------------------------

BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN: CALL TO HELP THE MON

THE HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION OF MONLAND
Thailand

No group is more deserving or more in need of a computer to carry out its
vital work on behalf of the oppressed in Monland.  

Should you wish to assist The Human Rights Foundation of Monland, please 
contact: Burmese Relief Center-Japan at brelief@xxxxxxx

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