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PROPAGANDA NEWS - Myanmar Military



Subject: PROPAGANDA NEWS - Myanmar Military Official on Questions Raised by

Japan
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Myanmar Military Official on Questions Raised by Japan

               Xinhua
               08-FEB-99

               Times 

               YANGON (Feb. 8) XINHUA - The state-run New
               Light of Myanmar newspaper Monday carried
               excerpts from an interview made by the Japan
               Times newspaper with Brigadier General Kyaw Win,
               a high ranking Myanmar military official who visited
               Japan last month at the invitation of the Japanese
               government. 

               Kyaw Win, deputy chief of the Office of Strategic
               Studies of Myanmar Defense Ministry and deputy
               director of the Defense Services Intelligence,
               toured Japan for nine days from January 20 to 28. 

               Asked about his views on the policy of sanctions on
               Myanmar by the United States and European
               industrialized countries, Kyaw Win commented that
               the policy is not very practical and realistic, saying
               that without a strong economy and basic
               infrastructure, transformation from one political
               system to another, especially from one-party
               socialist system into a multi-party political system,
               will not be possible. 

               On Japanese policy towards Myanmar, he praised it
               as a practical one, reasoning that sanctions,
               boycott and embargo do not help the country's
               transition to a democracy. 

               He said Myanmar does not have any specific
               requests to Japan which used to be one of the
               biggest donors in the past, believing that Japan may
               be able to extend assistance for education and
               other social sectors despite the fact that Japan
               cannot provide fresh official development aid to the
               country for various reasons. 

               Regarding the international accusation that the
               Myanmar government is involved in narcotics
               trafficking, he said Myanmar can challenge the
               world to show it evidence of its involvement, saying
               that "we are doing more than our share to solve the

               narcotics problem because we are one of few
               governments in the world that is doing much
               anti-narcotics activities without any outside
               assistance." 

               On Chine-Myanmar ties, he said that the two
               countries have developed a good relationship as
               China is among countries that have assisted and
               supported Myanmar when it was facing time of
               difficulties from 1988 onward.