The BurmaNet News: July 27, 1999

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 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: July 27, 1999
Issue #1323

HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS: THOUSANDS JOIN QUEUE FOR CLOSED COLLEGES 
INT'L WATER AND DAM: MORE POWER SHORTAGES 
VOICE OF AMERICA: SPDC AGREES TO UN VISIT 
NATION: ALBRIGHT BLASTS BURMA'S STANCE ON DEMOCRACY 
NATION: BURMA "AMAZED" BY CHARGES OF DRUG RUNNING 
AFP: THAILAND DEFENDS ASEAN OVER MYANMAR 
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REUTERS: THOUSANDS JOIN QUEUE FOR CLOSED MYANMAR COLLEGES 
26 July, 1999 

YANGON, July 26 (Reuters) - More than 100,000 students have passed the
latest university entrance test in Myanmar but instead of starting their
studies will join 300,000 others waiting for the military government to
reopen campuses closed in 1996.   [BurmaNet Editor's Note: Since the 1988
uprisings the universities have been open, on and off, for only 28 months.]

Results published on Sunday showed 112,722 students of 399,318 who sat the
exams in March passed. They will join the 300,000 students who passed in
1996, 1997 and 1998 and have been waiting for colleges to reopen so they
can start their courses. 

Classes for masters degree courses and some post and undergraduate diploma
courses have restarted but regular degree courses remain suspended except
at institutes under the Ministry of Health. 

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INTERNATIONAL WATER AND DAM CONSTRUCTION (JOURNAL): MYANMAR FACES MORE
POWER SHORTAGES
June, 1999
 
Vol. 51, No. 6

Myanmar has been short of electricity in the past two years as hydro power
plants in the country have not been operating at their full capacity due to
water shortages at reservoirs and hydroelectric plants. 

According to official statistics, the installed capacity of state-run
Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE), the main electricity supplier in
the country, was only 1248MW as of the end of 1998. In efforts to resolve
the power shortage problem, Myanmar signed agreements with two Chinese
companies last year to implement three hydro power projects in the
Mandalay, Magway and Sagaing areas.

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VOICE OF AMERICA: SPDC AGREES TO UN VISIT 
27 July, 1999 

A United nations spokeswoman confirmed to [VOA] Burmese Service late Monday
that Burma's military government has agreed to a return visit to Rangoon by
U.N Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Alvaro de Soto. He
last visited Rangoon last October, meeting with senior officials of the
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). 

On Monday, Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, told reporters
in Singapore that Burma's foreign minister (U Win Aung) confirmed his
government's agreement for the U.N. visit to take place in September. 

The U.N. spokeswoman declined to be specific, but told VOA the U.N. is
looking at the possibility of a visit late in the (U.S.) summer period.
Previous reports said the visit would take place in August. 


Japan's Kyodo news service quoted Mr. Downer as saying that during a
session of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), there were expressions of
concern about the slow pace of progress in Burma's constitution. 

Burma's military has been drafting a new constitution since 1993, promising
a return to democracy once the process is completed. However, 1991 Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been ruled out of any future political role
in the country. 

Both Kyodo and the Australian newspaper -- the Melbourne [ ... ] -- quoted
Mr. Downer as saying he will discuss with Burma's foreign minister on
Wednesday some proposals he said are aimed at political progress in Burma. 

Mr. Downer said so far, international pressure on for change has not worked
- including sanctions a n d the ASEAN policy of constructive engagement. 

Following Mr. De Soto's visit last year, Burma's military said an "aid for
reform" deal would not be acceptable, saying Burma's sovereignty was "not
for sale." There were reports Burma could gain access to international
assistance and humanitarian aid, in exchange for agreement to begin a
genuine dialogue with the National League for Democracy, which won a 1990
election. 

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THE NATION: ALBRIGHT BLASTS BURMA'S STANCE ON DEMOCRACY 
26 July, 1999 by Don Pathan 

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright yesterday blasted Burma for not
making any progress towards democracy and urged the region to exercise
restraint amid growing tension among claimants of territories in the South
China Sea. 

"We are concerned with the growing tension over territorial claims in the
South China Sea. We will be urging them to exercise restraint and to find
ways to build confidence and move towards resolution," said Albright at a
press conference. 

Last Monday, a Philippine gunboat sank a Chinese fishing boat after chasing
it for hours around the Spratlys, a group of islands in the South China Sea. 

Beijing called the event "very serious". A similar incident occurred last
May. 

Regarding Burma's human rights violations, Albright said it was essential
that members of Asean discuss the issue as it poses a security threat to
the region. 

She urged the junta to establish a dialogue with the pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, which
won a landslide victory in a 1990 parliamentary election but was denied the
right to form a government by the military junta. 

Acknowledging that Asean countries do not like to criticise one another in
public, Albright said, "I have made it quite clear that it is very
important to be frank about what's going on" in Burma. 

"I haven't met Asean members as a group yet, but if they are listening they
know that I plan to raise Burma again," she said. 

Albright arrived here on Saturday to participate in the Asean Regional
Forum (ARF), which groups the 10 Asean members and foreign ministers from
the US, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Russia
and India. 

At a bilateral meeting with Albright, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan
expressed his appreciation for her role in making it possible to achieve
the outcome in which the leading candidates for the next World Trade
Organisation chief could share a term, Don Pramudwinai, the Thai foreign
ministry's spokesman said. 


Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi and New Zealand's Mike Moore
were in a bitter race to be the next WTO director general. 

"Albright has personally played a role in making this outcome possible,"
Don said. 

Besides Albright, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his New
Zealand counterpart Don McKinnon also expressed their support for
Thailand's initiative to move the ARF discussions from confidence-building
measures, which have been described as mere talk shop, "to the level of
preventive diplomacy", according to Don. 

"ARF has to be pro-active or else it will lose its appeal and risk seeing
members going elsewhere to bring up their concerns," Don said. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, while agreeing with the idea in
principle, cautioned his Thai counterpart on the pace, Don said. 

On the issue of territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Tang preferred
to see the matter discussed in an informal setting, such as a working
dinner, instead of the ARF, Don said. 

It has long been Beijing's strategy to deal with other claimants which
include Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan, in a
bilateral setting instead of an international forum. 

Regarding Asean's initiative to launch a social safety net for the
disadvantaged and the vulnerable sectors in the region as well as a
region-wide Asean Human Resource Development Fund, all the dialogue
partners expressed their strong support for the idea, Don said. 

South Korean Foreign Minister Hong Soon-young, during his meeting with
Surin, urged Thailand not to neglect developments in the Korean Peninsula
as developments there affects the security and well being of the region as
a whole. 

North and South Korean navies had in recent months engaged in fierce
shooting, bringing all dialogue between the two arch-enemies to a standstill.

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THE NATION: BURMA "AMAZED" BY THAI CHARGES OF DRUG-RUNNING 
26 June, 1999 

Burma yesterday rejected a Thai press report that the Burmese army was
involved in drug trafficking. 

Meanwhile, PM's Office Minister Jurin Laksanavisit, who oversees the Office
of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), said yesterday that the Burmese
government had promised to help suppress drug smuggling along the border
with Thailand. 

He said the ONCB's regional offices would meet more frequently, from once a
month to every week. 

A Burmese government spokesman yesterday strongly denied allegations in a
press report that Burma's military was directly involved in the trafficking
of methamphetamine tablets into Thailand. 

"It is really very regretful as well as amazing to learn how responsible
Thai narcotics officials can come up with such irresponsible statements
accusing the Burmese military of being involved in the drug trade," a
spokesman for the Burmese government said in a statement. He referred to
the officials quoted in the news report. 

"Panicking and putting the blame and scapegoating others to deflect one's
responsibility does not help in our fight against the drugs menace," the
spokesman said. 


Jurin said yesterday that Thai and Burmese officials had met over drug
problems and that the Burmese had promised to help in the suppression. The
Thai government had provided the Burmese officials with drug-testing
equipment and communications gear as well as training on drug testing. 

He said the Prime Minister's Office had instructed the ONCB to ensure its
five regional offices hold a meeting every week to investigate some 1,300
government officials allegedly involved with the drug trade. Investigations
into some 300 officials had been completed. 

Pinyo Thongchai, director of the ONCB's Northern region, said that more
cooperation Prom residents of border villages was needed in the efforts
curb the smuggling of drugs particularly methamphetamine pills. 

He said most villagers had refused to cooperate with officials for fear of
retaliation from drug traffickers. 

Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Surayud Chulanont said that talks between local
officials from both countries had failed to produce favourable results,
adding that a governmental level meeting would be held soon to discuss the
drug problem. 

Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said yesterday that he saw no need
for closure of certain checkpoints at the borders with Burma as proposed by
the Army chief. 

"Careful consideration is needed before closing border checkpoints. People
who rely on border trade may be affected," Sanan said. 

The Army chief had said that the border checkpoints at Chiang Rai's Mae Ai
district should be closed to make it easier for a military crackdown on the
United Wa State Army, a Burmese ethnic rebel group believed to be that main
drug trafficking organisation in the Golden Triangle.

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AFP: THAILAND DEFENDS ASEAN OVER MYANMAR 
26 July, 1999 

BANGKOK, July 26 (AFP) - Millions of Asians wanted to see positive
political development in military-run Myanmar but not if it meant the
collapse of ASEAN, Thailand's deputy foreign minister said Monday. "ASEAN
was established on the principle of non-intervention and that is the reason
ASEAN has progressed this far over the last 32 years," Sukhumbhand
Paribatra told reporters. 

"For ASEAN to abandon the principle and intervene in the affairs of member
countries in order to introduce democracy (could mean that) in the end
there may not be ASEAN." 

He agreed the "majority of intellectual people" shared the aspirations of
Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi but said that would not change
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) policy of
non-interference in members' internal affairs. 

"Millions of people including this country, including myself, we share the
sentiment and concerns of Aung San Suu Kyi," he told reporters. 

"There is nothing more the Thai people would like in Myanmar than a
positive political development taking place. I think this is beyond dispute. 

"But sentiment is one thing ... to try to persuade ASEAN to intervene in
the domestic affairs of a fellow ASEAN member to promote the cause of
democracy is quite another all together." 


The United States and the European Union (EU) have made it clear they want
ASEAN to be more pro-active in fostering democracy in Myanmar. 

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told ASEAN foreign ministers in
Singapore on Monday that the junta's iron rule was a "threat" to the region
and urged Yangon to open dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi. 

Washington and the EU were strongly opposed to Myanmar joining ASEAN in
July 1997. 

The junta is widely condemned for gross human rights abuses and its refusal
to recognise the result of a 1990 election won by the National League for
Democracy (NLD) under Aung San Suu Kyi. 

EU visa bans against top junta officials effectively block ASEAN from
attending talks in Europe. 

But Sukhumbhand said ASEAN's policy of non-interference had to be respected
and was the only way the bloc could exert any collective influence over the
junta. 

Earlier this month Aung San Suu Kyi said ASEAN's support was vital for to
struggle for democracy. 

But the Nobel peace laureate accused ASEAN of hiding behind concepts like
"Asian values" and "non-interference" to avoid taking on the junta. 

"The democratisation process in Burma can be accelerated if the
international community -- (ASEAN) in particular -- increases pressure on
the military regime," she wrote in an article for Thailand's Nation daily. 

"We believe that support from ASEAN ... is crucial to our quest for
democracy."

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