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SPDC: INFORMATION SHEET NO.A-0325 (I) 
21February, 1998 [abridged]

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY CONFERS HONORARY DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION ON ZAYKABAR U KHIN SHWE

A ceremony to confer honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Business
Administration of Washington University of the United States of America
was held in Diamond Jubilee Hall of Yangon University on 20 February.  
Chairman of the Honorary Research Committee of Washington University 
Dr John Lim explained the purpose of conferring the honorary doctorate 
on U Khin Shwe.

Professor of Washington  University Dr Carey Rosenthal spoke of the doctorate,
and conferred the honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration 
on U Khin Shwe.  The American Education Foundation decided to confer the 
honorary Doctor of  Philosophy in Business Administration on U Khin Shwe 
out of enterpreneurs in Asia for this year, and Washington University 
conferred the degree through the American Education Foundation.
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MEDIA RELEASE: JUNTA'S "HONORARY DEGREE" FARCE EXPOSED
10 March, 1998

Burmese "Honorary Degree" has Dishonorable Pedigree
Will the real Washington University please stand up?

St. Louis, March 10 -- The report from Burma's capital Rangoon on 
February 21 seemed commonplace enough: a leading local businessman 
was awarded an honorary degree from Washington University under the 
auspices of the American Education Foundation.

Yet in the Southeast Asian country ruled by a repressive army junta with
links to the world's biggest heroin traffickers, little is what is seems.
"Washington University" is not the respected St. Louis institution an
unsuspecting reader might assume. The "American Education Foundation"
exists only in Singapore. And the Burmese "honoree", Khin Shwe, is more
than just a good friend of the country's ruling generals.  He is also
paying a Washington, D.C. public relations firm over $20,000 each month 
to burnish the image of one of the world's worst dictatorships.

The fake degree scheme appears to be one part of much larger public
relations campaign launched by the generals who are widely recognized as
one of the most repressive regimes on the planet.  United States investment
sanctions are increasing pressure on the military regime to respect human
rights and accept a transition to democracy. The junta is fighting back by
stepping up internal repression while seeking to present a better face to
the rest of the world.

To do so, the military junta of Burma (renamed "Myanmar" by the generals)
has recently been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on public
relations services, according to a recently-published Washington Post
investigation.  (See "Burma's Image Problem Is a Moneymaker for U.S.
Lobbyists" Feb. 24, 1998, Washington Post, p. A19).

According to the Post, a close friend of the junta named Khin Shwe has
signed a contract with Bain and Associates for $21,000 per month for public
relations services.  Bain in turn appears to report directly to
representatives of the junta.

The same week the Post story broke, the Burmese junta reported that its
ally Khin Shwe had been conferred an "Honorary Doctor of Philosophy in
Business Administration" by "Washington University" of the United States.

Khin Shwe is Managing Director of the Zay Ka Bar company, which is heavily
involved in Burma's construction industry.  According to the U.S. State
Department, this industry is awash in laundered drug money.

The Burmese democratic opposition was shocked at this report, since the
junta has closed universities in Burma for more than a year and killed or
arrested many students.  Many in Burma found it inconceivable that cronies
of the military dictatorship would receive recognition from a legitimate
academic institution outside Burma.

According to reports in the tightly-controlled Burmese media, the degree
was awarded under the auspices of the "American Education Foundation," and
presented by "Professor of Washington University Dr. Carey Rosenthal," and
"Chairman of the Honorary Research Committee of Washington University Dr.
John Lim."

As is the case with much of the junta's public relations efforts, however,
the truth is an entirely different story:

* "Washington University of the United States of America"
(http://www.wash.edu) is actually an unaccredited degree-mill, incorporated
in Hawaii, but operating from a post office box in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. 
It offers "Ph.D.s" for sale at prices ranging from $3,600 to $6,000. The 
real Washington University in St. Louis has recently taken legal action 
under federal and state trademark laws to prevent the misuse of its 
registered name.  In a statement issued March 9, Washington University 
in St. Louis describes the junta's claims of an honorary degree as "false" 
and "misleading."

* The American Education Foundation is actually based in Singapore.

* "Chairman of the Honorary Research Committee of Washington University" is
Singapore businessman John Lim.  The source of the "Dr." before his name is
unknown.

* "Prof. Carey Rosenthal of Washington University" is actually a Chemistry
Professor from Drexell University of Philadelphia.  His trip to Burma was
paid for by Khin Shwe himself.

"This "honorary degree" comes from an institution that isn't accredited to
grant degrees," says Tom Lansner, Professor of International Affairs at
Columbia University.  "Apparently, the whole charade was paid for by the
recipient.  The top military commanders attended the ceremony, and then
boasted about the honor in state newspapers, and in an "information sheet"
on the Internet."

According to Bain and Associates, the Internet "information sheets" are
distributed by the junta's Office of Strategic Services, under the command
of Lt. Col. Hla Min.

"This farce of a degree shows that we can not accept the junta's claims
about anything," says Dr. Sein Win, Prime Minister of Burma's democratic
government in-exile.

The same "information sheet" contained claims of drug seizures, notes Dr.
Win. "These drug seizures are staged events, just like the fake Ph.D.," he
says.  "And yet, the PR companies are trying to use this 'information' to
win counter-narcotics assistance from the U.S., as a way to begin to break
down the U.S. sanctions movement."

Burma is one of only four countries subject to sanctions by the United
States for lack of counter-narcotics efforts.  Burma supplies 60% of the
heroin on US streets and, according to Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright, the junta "profits" from this trade.

Previous "Information Sheets" have contained demonstrably false claims
about activities of Burma's opposition party, the National League for
Democracy, which is headed by Aung San Suu Kyi.  Mrs. Suu Kyi, winner of 
the 1991 Nobel Peace prize, has been imprisoned by the generals in her 
own house for nearly nine years.

Why would the generals in Burma go to such lengths for a fake honorary
doctorate?

Perhaps they are jealous of the degrees awarded to Mrs. Suu Kyi. Mrs. Suu
Kyi has not only earned a B.A. in philosophy, politics and economics from
Oxford University, but also holds honorary doctorates from Oxford, American
University in Washington, D.C., Thammasat University, Thailand, the
University 
of Toronto, Queen's University, Ontario, and the Free University of Brussels.

Contacts:
- Seattle Burma Roundtable: Larry Dohrs (206) 784-5742 dohrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Philadelphia Burma Roundtable: Dan Orzech (610) 650-7755 orzech@xxxxxxxx
- Washington University: Judy Jasper, Associate Vice Chancellor and
Executive Director of Public Affairs (314) 935-5408

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