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The BurmaNet News: August 27, 1999



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: August 27, 1999
Issue #1346

HEADLINES:
==========
AFP: ASSK - NO QUICK FIXES TO THE PROBLEMS OF YOUTH 
AFP: EXILES URGE JUNTA TO BEGIN POLITICAL DIALOGUE 
REUTERS: MYANMAR DENIES PERSECUTING CHRISTIAN 
REUTERS: MILITARY RULE IN MYANMAR - A WRITER'S TALE 
XINHUA: MYANMAR-THAI JOINT COMMISSION ENDS MEETING
AFP: THAI PREMIER REPORTEDLY TO VISIT MYANMAR 
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AFP: AUNG SAN SUU KYI SAYS NO QUICK FIXES FOR THE PROBLEMS OF MYANMAR'S YOUTH 
25 August, 1999 

YANGON, Aug 25 (AFP) - Myanmar Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has
acknowledged any future civilian government would face major obstacles
meeting the expectations of the country's young people. With universities
closed since 1996, the Nobel peace laureate said providing young people
with adequate educational opportunities would take years of hard work. 

"We'll have to work very hard to make up for all the lost years," Aung San
Suu Kyi told AFP during an interview here late Monday. 

"The dictatorship didn't really care to educate the people because they
prefer to keep the people ignorant and subdued," she added. 

Universities have traditionally been hotbeds of political opposition to
military rule and students have been at the forefront of the democracy
movement for decades. 

Only selected faculties at certain universities have been allowed to reopen
since 1996 unrest, and they are closely scrutinised for any signs of
political activity. 

Aung San Suu Kyi said a democratically elected government would need to
ensure young people understand that there will be no quick fixes to the
country's educational, economic and social problems. 

"A democratic government will have to make the people understand that
certain measures are necessary ... measures that may not have brilliant
short term results but in the long run will give solid benefits," she said. 

Aung San Suu Kyi said meeting the expectations of the people of Myanmar,
particularly the young, "would not be a fairytale." 

The leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) said television
advertisements for luxury goods had created unrealistic expectations, and
the public would need to adopt a frugal or "Buddhist" approach to
rebuilding the country. 

"I have watched some of the advertisements on television and this is quite
inappropriate for a country like Burma where the majority of people are
hardly living above the starvation line," she said. 

Funding improvements to the education system would be a difficult task for
any future democratic government. 

Diplomats say Myanmar's economy has reached crisis point, with Asia's
financial crisis aggravating the impact of international sanctions imposed
to punish what foreign critics say are flagrant human rights abuses. 

But Aung San Suu Kyi said she was confident the NLD could restore the
education system and the stagnant economy. 

"I think with a government that is accountable and that is supported by the
people and by the international community , we will be able to overcome our
difficulties," she said 

Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to an overwhelming victory in 1990 elections,
but the results were ignored by the military rulers. 

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

AFP: MYANMAR EXILES URGE JUNTA TO BEGIN POLITICAL DIALOGUE
26 August, 1999 

BANGKOK, Aung 26 (AFP) - Exiled leaders of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement
Thursday urged the ruling military to start dialogue with opposition forces
led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

In a letter sent to junta chief General Than Shwe, the National Council of
the Union of Burma (NCUB) warned the junta not to use force to quash any
turmoil.

The letter, obtained by AFP, comes ahead of a planned uprising in Myanmar
by dissidents next month.

"There are currently indications that a general uprising may occur in Burma
due to widespread discontent," it said, referring to the country by its
former name.

The letter, penned by NCUB president General Bo Mya, who is also chief of
the ethnic rebel Karen National Union (KNU) said the only way for the
junta, known as the State peace and Development Council (SPDC), to avoid
mass unrest was through political means.

The KNU is the main ethnic insurgency which has not yet signed a ceasefire
agreement with the junta and operates near the border with Thailand.

"I strongly ask that those three forces in Burmese politics that are
willing to work for the development of the country -- the NLD, the SPDC and
ethnic groups -- should initiate a genuine dialogue immediately," Bo Mya said.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi won 1990
elections in Myanmar, but has been denied power by the military.

Dissidents inside and outside Myanmar are campaigning for a mass uprising
on September 9 -- or 9/9/99. The symbolic date has led it to be known as
the "Four Nines Movement."

August 8 this year marked the 11th anniversary of an earlier uprising,
known as 8/8/88, in which hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators were
gunned down and a junta took power from strongman General Ne Win.

That anniversary passed peacefully, but exile groups have said Myanmar's
people have an "appointment" with September 9 to repeat the events of 1988
and end the military's 37-year rule.

Aung San Suu Kyi has warned that the military is using the "Four Nines
Movement" as a pretext to tighten its grip.

"I think they are using it as an excuse for cracking down," she said in an
interview with AFP earlier this week.

The junta said recently that it had arrested 37 people, including NLD
members, in connection with the planned unrest. Exiled dissidents claim the
figure is close to 150 people. 

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

REUTERS: MYANMAR DENIES PERSECUTING CHRISTIAN MINORITY 
25 August, 1999 

BANGKOK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military rulers on Wednesday denied a
report that they were persecuting members of a Christian minority, forcing
them to flee to India.  (see The Bangkok Post (AP), "Christian Tribes
Fleeing Country," in The BurmaNet News: August 23, 1999, Issue #1342.)

A government statement said a report last week by a foreign news agency on
the Naga minority was "part and parcel of the ongoing smear campaign
disseminated by anti-government forces." 

"Myanmar is (a) nation where the peoples of all religions live together in
peace and harmony and freedom of religion is fully practised," it said. 

"Regretfully there have been distorted and fabricated reports on religious
persecution of the Christian Naga." 

The agency report quoted the Nagaland Baptist Church as saying 1,000
members of the tribe in northwestern Myanmar had fled to India in the past
month after attempts by the military and Buddhist clergy to force them to
renounce their faith. 

The church leaders were quoted as saying that most of the tribespeople's
churches in Myanmar's Sagaing Division had been forced to close. Similar
reports have been carried in Indian newspapers. 

"The report on the persecution of the Christian Naga is totally
groundless," the Myanmar government statement said. 

"There has never been such an incident on the Indian-Myanmar border as well
as any other place in Myanmar." 

Myanmar, widely criticised for its human rights record, has drawn fire in
the past for its treatment of its Moslem minority living near its western
border with Bangladesh. 

More than 250,000 Moslems fled to Bangladesh in early 1992, saying they
were being persecuted at home. Their repatriation began in September that
year under the supervision of the UNHCR. 

The process stopped in July 1997 with some 21,000 refugees still in
Bangladesh, but has since resumed at a snail's pace. 

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

REUTERS: MILITARY RULE IN MYANMAR - A WRITER'S TALE 
25 August, 1999 by David Brunnstrom 

BANGKOK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Until July, Maung Tha Ya had spent all his 69
years in Myanmar. Now he is seeking asylum from a military-ruled existence
he calls a "living death" for authors. 

On July 3, disguised as a gemstone trader and despite a weak heart, he
began an arduous and nerve-racking 10-day journey by bus, train, ferry and
foot to the Thai frontier. 

One of Myanmar's best-known novelists, Maung Tha Ya's works have been
banned at home for the past 10 years and his publishing business shut down.
Most of his writer friends are in jail. 

Fearing arrest himself, he fled with his youngest son but without his seven
other grown-up children. He says he can never return and wants the chance
to write freely before he dies. 

Even after a month in Thailand from where he hopes to obtain political
asylum in the United States or Australia, Maung Tha Ya says he hasn't
become used to the freedom to speak his mind. 

"You might not believe me that it frightens the hell out of me to air my
views and share my thoughts," he told journalists. 

"You must understand that I come from a society where freedom of any sort,
let alone opening one's mouth, could land a person in deep trouble...I am
still trying to get over this fear of yapping my head off in public." 

Maung Tha Ya's troubles really began when he published short stories after
the military killed thousands to crush Myanmar's 1988 uprising for
democracy, comparing life in the country to that of a dog which has been
severely beaten to keep it quiet. 

The message from the military was "keep your mouth shut if you want to stay
safe and secure" he said. 

Given this atmosphere, he doubted a call by dissidents in exile for a mass
uprising for democracy next month would result in more than scattered
protests. 

"In my country restrictions are too tight. People dare not move and it will
be very risky for those who demonstrate." 

Earlier this year, Myanmar began issuing publishing licences again -- not
to Maung Tha Ya but to relatives and friends of the generals who began
denouncing him and his work as "dirty realism." 

"It's the usual way -- to isolate socially those who are prominent, and
afterwards they would arrest me," he said. 

Maung Tha Ya estimated about 20 prominent writers were in jail, many of
them friends, and at least one had died in custody. 

One friend, Win Tin, a senior member of the opposition National League for
Democracy, has been held for ten years. 

"What has he done? -- He has done nothing except to try to work for his
country. I don't want to be like him. Why should I spend my life in prison?" 

Real writers had given up and looked for other ways to earn a living so
creative writing had more or less disappeared. 

"Nowadays all there is are love stories, martial arts stories, business
stories and religious and astrological articles," he said. 

He joked that people bought the rigidly controlled state newspapers for
"recycling or for packing material" and read backwards, starting with
obituaries and personal advertisements. 

Those wanting to get a clear idea of what was going on politically had to
rely on reading between the lines in the state press and on foreign radio
broadcasts. 

Recognising the popularity of the British Broadcasting Corporation and the
Voice of America, authorities aired movies at the same time as their
Burmese-language transmissions, he said. 

Restrictions on writers sometimes bordered on the absurd -- when the gaffes
of senior figures like former military strongman Ne Win became part of the
language, by official decree. 

"It is nonsense, but say you wanted to right "once upon a time" you
couldn't -- you would have to write "once upon one time" because he had
said that. If the wrong thing got published then you would have to pay a
fine for each error."

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

XINHUA: MYANMAR - THAILAND JOINT COMMISSION ENDS MEETING IN RANGOON
24 August, 1999 

YANGON (Aug. 24) XINHUA - The 5th meeting of Myanmar-Thailand Joint
Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) ended here Tuesday with the two
sides agreeing on various issues of bilateral cooperation. 

The meeting was co-chaired by Myanmar Foreign Minister U Win Aung and his
visiting Thai counterpart Surin Pitsuwan, who arrived here Tuesday morning. 

U Win Aung said at a joint press conference after the conclusion of the
meeting that the two sides discussed and agreed on issues concerning the
exchange of visits, cooperation in the border area, suppression of
trans-border crimes, boundary demarcation, meeting between immigration
officials, economic and technical cooperation, transport and
communications, and cultural and tourism cooperation, among others. 

The two sides agreed that Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai visit Myanmar
at a future convenient date, he said. 

The two sides also agreed to prevent the escalation of naval conflicts in
the southern border areas, pending the demarcation of the boundary in that
part, while promoting contacts and interactions between the
commanders-in-chief of the two navies, U Win Aung stated. 

On curbing trans-border crimes, he said, the two sides expressed
satisfaction over the close cooperation between them on anti-drug matters,
especially after Myanmar leader Senior-General Than Shwe visited Thailand
in March this year. 

They also agreed to enhance cooperation in the suppression of illegal
activities along the border, such as smuggling of gems, artifacts,
vehicles, cattle and marine products, he added. 

In regard of boundary demarcation between the two countries, a technical
meeting on a related memorandum of understanding will be held in Bangkok
early next month, during which the incorporation of boundary alignment in
the MOU will be further discussed, he disclosed. 

He further revealed that the JCBC meeting also discussed cooperation in the
fields of economy, technology, health, agriculture and education under the
technical and economic cooperation program provided for Myanmar by
Thailand. The Thai side agreed to provide training to Myanmar officials
from the foreign ministry on matters relating to the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations. 

With regard to cultural and tourism cooperation, the two sides agreed to
enhance the concerted efforts of the tourism authorities of the two
countries towards the successful convening of the tourism fair in Bangkok
in the next two months. 

At Tuesday's JCBC meeting, two agreements on visa exemption for holders of
diplomatic and official passports and on cultural cooperation promotion
were signed. 

It was decided at the meeting that the 6th Myanmar-Thailand JCBC meeting
will be held in Thailand. 

The Myanmar-Thailand JCBC was established in 1993 and meetings are held
alternately in both capitals of the two countries.

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

AFP: THAI PREMIER REPORTEDLY TO VISIT MYANMAR 
26 August, 1999 

BANGKOK - Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai will visit Yangon at an
unspecified date in the future, the Myanmar junta announced Wednesday. 

The announcement followed meetings in Myanmar between Thai Foreign Minister
Surin Pitsuwan and a range of senior officials, including his counterpart,
Win Aung, and the junta's powerful first secretary, Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt. 

"The two sides agreed that the visit to Myanmar of Thai Prime Minister
Chuan Leekpai will take place at a mutually convenient time," the junta
statement said. 

Surin returned to Bangkok on Wednesday evening from a two-day trip to Yangon. 

The statement said Myanmar and Thailand had vowed to strengthen border
cooperation and cooperate in an anti-drugs drive aimed at clamping down on
the illicit cross-border trade. 

"We have agreed that suppression of the production and trafficking of
narcotic drugs is of the highest priority on both sides," the statement
quoted Surin saying. 

"We have expressed our concern and our readiness to work closely in order
to contain and eradicate illegal activities ... such as gambling and
smuggling of gems, artifacts and women and children." 

Myanmar, which forms part of the "Golden Triangle" opium growing region --
along with Thailand and Laos -- has been accused by the international
community of tolerating and even profiting from the drugs trade. 

Surin was also quoted as hailing growing economic cooperation between the
two countries. 

The statement said that in the first half of 1999, trade between the two
nations grew by 27 percent to $267.9 million.

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