OSI: Burma News Update #59

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Burma Project
Open Society Institute
> Burma News Update No. 59
> 16 June 1998
> 
> 
> Foreign Investment Plummets
> Foreign investment in Burma dropped 
> by more than 50 percent in the fiscal year ending last March, officials of
> Burma's military junta admitted at an international 
> economic seminar in Tokyo. Junta member Brigadier David Abel said foreign 
> direct investment was down nearly 54 percent from 1996-97 to 771 million 
> dollars in 1997-98. Investment in Burma has been hit by US and European
> sanctions, Burma's unrealistic exchange rate, and the general East Asian 
> economic slowdown. (Tokyo, Agence France Presse, 4 June)
> 
> Ethnic Leaders Call for Parliament
> Ethnic leaders from Burma's border areas called on the ruling army junta
> to
> convene parliament based on the May 1990 elections results never honored
> by the
> military regime.  In an open letter to the junta, four elected
> parliamentarians
> from Chin, Mon, Rakhine, and Arakan States called the failure to honor the
> election results a "black mark" on Burma's history and urged "politically
> significant talks" that would include 1990 election winners, the National
> League
> for Democracy, ethnic political parties, armed ethnic groups, and the
> junta. 
> (Rangoon, Reuters, 9 June)
>  
> New Jailing, Detentions 
> Burma's army junta sentenced two members of the opposition National League
> for
> Democracy (NLD) to 14-year jail terms and detained at least 30 other NLD
> members
> in the follow-up to an NLD meeting on 27-28 May to commemorate the party's
> sweeping 1990 elections victory that has never been accepted by the
> country's
> military regime. Two men were jailed for distributing copies of a letter
> to the
> junta from an armed ethnic opposition group which enjoys a ceasefire with
> the
> army. Thirty other NLD members arrested 30 miles north of Rangoon were
> reportedly charged with "endangering the security of the state" after
> attending
> the NLD party meeting.(Rangoon, Agence France Presse, 7 June)
> 
> "Khun Sa Our Trophy"-Junta
> Long-time heroin warlord Khun Sa will not be extradited despite a $2
> million
> reward posted by the American government, a Burmese junta spokesman said.
> Khun
> Sa, whose real name is Chang Chi Fu, negotiated an amnesty with the
> Burmese
> regime in 1996. Burmese Lieutenant Colonel Hla Min said that the junta had
> fought Khun Sa, who now "is the trophy . . . that we have the right to
> display .
> . . wherever  we like . . . in the dining room, living room, garage." US
> officials announced
> $2 million bounties on four other alleged major heroin traffickers
> reported to
> be in Burma, including Wei Hsueh-Kang, chief of the United Wa State Army's
> Southern Military Command. The US State Department reports that Wa forces,
> which
> enjoy a ceasefire with the junta, now dominate Burma's heroin trade. [On 4
> June,
> Burma's ambassador to Britain confirmed in a BBC interview that Khun Sa is
> "under our protection" and would be treated with "loving kindness." - Ed.]
> (Tokyo, Agence France Presse, 4 June; Washington, DC, Reuters, 3 June)
> 
> Junta Urges Teachers' Vigilance 
> Senior junta leader and military intelligence chief Lt. General Khin Nyunt
> warned teachers to beware of "subversive elements" and "internal traitors"
> spreading dissent in the country's schools, Burma's state-controlled
> newspapers
> reported. The warning came as primary, middle, and high schools reopened
> on 11
> June after a three month holiday. Burma's universities have been closed
> since
> December 1996 student protests. (Rangoon, Associated Press, 6 June)
> 
> Burma's "Most Reliable Friend" 
> China's official news agency reported on the visit to Beijing of Burma Air
> Force
> chief Maj. Gen. Kya Than: "Kyaw Than said Myanmar leaders have pointed out
> many
> times that China is the most reliable friend of Myanmar. . . . He noted
> that the
> Myanmar government, armed forces and people are willing to further develop
> the
> friendship between the two sides, and expressed his belief that the
> cooperation
> between the two armed forces would be strengthened." (Beijing, Xinhua News
> Agency, 9 June)
> 
> BURMA NEWS UPDATE is a publication of the Burma Project of the Open
> Society Institute. 
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