BurmaNet News: September 12, 2000

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
_________September 12, 2000   Issue # 1618__________


	
INSIDE BURMA _______
*Time: From Bad to Worse
*Asiaweek: Back to School in Myanmar--Measuring the Cost of 12 Years of 
Folly
*Myanmar Times (SPDC): Getting wired a major priority, says IT boss
*Mon Forum Newsletter: Mon State PDC Bars the Mon Literacy Training in 
Moulmein

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL_______
*Xinhua: Myanmar Rep to Be Chairman of UN Disarmament Body

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Bangkok Post: Thailand stands to benefit by paying for gas, not 
defaulting Potential to improve ties with Rangoon
		
OPINION/EDITORIALS _______
*Joint Statement of 11 Foreign Ministers: Restraints on leaders ?affront 
to people throughout the world?
*The Australian: Burma needs friends, not lectures

The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	

Time: From Bad to Worse

Sept 18, 2000

Intensifying a crackdown on the opposition, Burma's generals are 
calculating that the West doesn't care 
By ROBERT HORN 

The gloves are off in Burma. For two years, the generals who rule the 
country have allowed a modicum of freedom to the leaders of the National 
League for DemocracyùAung San Suu Kyi's opposition partyùeven while 
arresting and intimidating its rank-and-file. Last week, after the 
latest face-off with the popular dissident, the junta withdrew even 
those few freedoms and has turned its wrath upon those leaders. Troops 
have been deployed around the homes of Suu Kyi and eight other 
executives of her embattled party. They cannot go out, their phone lines 
have been cut and all visitors have been turned back, including the 
British ambassador, who reports being manhandled by military police on 
Sept. 2. According to the government, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and 
her colleagues "have been requested to remain at home," but are not 
under house arrest. However one defines things, says Teddy Buri, an nld 
member living in exile in Thailand, "it's the worst situation we've 
faced since 1989." 
Back then, the generals confined Suu Kyi to her creaky, monsoon-streaked 
house for what would amount to six yearsùand sent thousands of other 
party members to prison. This time around, the junta insists the 
detentions are only temporary. They began Sept. 2, when some 200 troops 
dragged Suu Kyi and 14 of her followers back to their homes after they 
attempted to leave Rangoon to meet party members, forcing a nine-day 
standoff beside a suburban road. Soldiers also closed down the nld's 
headquarters and seized party documents. Officials say Suu Kyi and her 
colleagues must remain under wraps while Rangoon investigates the nld's 
alleged links to terrorist groups. While independent observers dismiss 
such accusations as crude and far-fetched, Buri warns that "if the 
international community doesn't raise a more concerted protest, the 
military may feel it can keep them as long as it likes." 
 
So far, however, sentiment in Western capitals has been moving in the 
opposite direction. The regime's repressive measures have been so 
constant that crackdown fatigue seems to have set in among its usual 
critics. Few have spoken out even though many more nld members have been 
arrested or forced to resign in the past two years. Suu Kyi's detention 
has provoked a sharper response. But some nations appear nonetheless to 
be reconsidering the hard-line stance they have adopted toward the 
junta. In the U.S., business lobbies are pressing Washington to repeal 
sanctions on new investment in Burma. Australia has already expanded 
contacts with the regime. In the European Union, which has barred all 
aid to Burma except that which would promote democracy and human rights, 
France, Italy and Germany are arguing for a more lenient attitude toward 
the generals. (Britain and the Scandinavian countries are opposed to the 
shift.) 

The lack of unity partly reflects disagreement over whether punitive 
measures are effective. "Sanctions just aren't working," concludes a 
Rangoon-based European diplomat. nld executive Nyunt Wai argues, 
however, that the West should continue its hard line. "If sanctions have 
had no effect, why is the military yelling about them all the time?" 
said Nyunt Wai shortly before his confinement. And even if sticks 
haven't worked, neither have carrots. A year ago, Western governments 
were cautiously optimistic that they could tempt the regime to loosen 
its grip on power. Representatives of several nations quietly offered $1 
billion in aid if the junta would allow significant political freedoms. 
The generals rejected the money, saying they couldn't be bought. More 
than a decade of constructive engagement by Asian countries has 
similarly failed to promote change.  

The debate over which approach is most effective will be played out in 
several forums. This month, the U.N. will debate an annual resolution 
condemning Burma's human rights abuses. Democracy activists plan to 
press the U.N. to strip the military government of its General Assembly 
seat. The International Labor Organization may impose sanctions on the 
regime later this year because of its use of forced labor. And 
Thailand's Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan has warned that a December 
meeting between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the 
European Unionùalready delayed for more than two years because of the 
E.U.'s refusal to meet with Burmese officialsùcould be scuttled because 
of the latest crackdown.  

The European nations that advocate a new approach say Suu Kyi's 
detention hasn't altered their viewùyet. "If the military holds her too 
long, we may have to rethink our position," says the European diplomat. 
"They will only be hurting themselves." But according to Josef 
Silverstein, a Burma expert at Rutgers University, the junta isn't 
likely to engage in serious reform until it undergoes a leadership 
shakeout, which could possibly take place during the annual military 
reshuffle in November. The new guard "may be willing to make a deal with 
Suu Kyi and the nld to shore up support in the West," Silverstein says. 
But with the nld leaders under the gun, any deal the generals might 
offer will be strictly on their own terms.










____________________________________________________


Asiaweek: Back to School in Myanmar--Measuring the Cost of 12 Years of 
Folly

>From Our Correspondent: 
BY DOMINIC FAULDER
 
September 12, 2000
Web posted at 5:30 p.m. Hong Kong time, 5:30 a.m. EDT

Myanmar's universities and colleges reopened in late July. What could be 
more unremarkable? Anywhere else in the world, the start of a new term 
might just get a mention on the radio traffic news. But Myanmar is not 
like anywhere else in the world. Universities and colleges have been 
closed not for a mid-year break but for most of the past t12 years. Yes, 
12 years -- a full Buddhist cycle.  

Since June 1988, they have been open only for very brief spells in the 
period 1991-1996. Tertiary and higher education for an estimated 7 
million young people has been stymied. Worse, the All Burma Federation 
of Student Unions estimates that 9.5 million Burmese children do not 
have proper access to basic education. More than five times as much is 
spent on defense than education. The education system is "seriously 
damaged", the federation contends. "The future for the students and the 
country is terrifying." 

Some dismissed the openings as eyewash timed to coincide with a major 
ASEAN meeting in Bangkok. According to the National League for 
Democracy, only 40% of the students claimed by the junta actually 
returned to classes, which are being compressed into a three-month 
academic year to clear the huge backlog. "We would like governments and 
the student organizations of the world to think of education in Burma as 
part of our broader political situation," said Aung San Suu Kyi, 
secretary general of the National League for Democracy, taking a 
slightly self-contradicting swipe at the junta for using the education 
system as a political weapon. In fact, students and politics are 
veritable Burmese twins, inseparable. Suu Kyi's own father was a student 
hero before his illustrious military career and untimely political 
martyrdom.  
I witnessed the onset of the current education crisis. In fact, at the 
mere mention of Burmese students my mind flashes back to the afternoon 
of August 3, 1988. I had just arrived in Rangoon. The city was heavily 
overcast, a seething cauldron of underground political activity with 
revolutionary chatter steaming from its ubiquitous teashops. Thanks to 
BBC radio, everybody knew the lid would finally blow on 8 August -- the 
supposedly auspicious 8/8/88. Somehow the impending mass pro-democracy 
demonstrations that would drag Burma back into global consciousness from 
over a quarter century of total oblivion had become, well, official. 
Once the BBC had "announced" protests would begin on that date, there 
was no going back. The generals are still livid. Poorly acquainted with 
the workings of a free press, they continue to imagine that a perfectly 
legitimate piece of news reporting was part of some international 
conspiracy.  

On the afternoon of the 3rd, I was hunched uncomfortably in the back of 
a spluttering little four-wheeler on my way up to Shwedagon Pagoda, the 
main hub of political intrigue. I was intending to take the revolution's 
pulse discreetly over tea and cheroots with whoever might be willing to 
talk -- most likely some students. I had no particular expectations and 
had certainly not sniffed a whiff of what was about to happen. My 
vehicle was paused near Scott Market when the pandemonium erupted.  

Suddenly, thousands of people came pouring across the junction down 
Shwedagon Pagoda Road towards the heart of the city. My driver panicked 
and tried to reverse out of the crush. He was unable to grasp that I 
wanted him to let me down immediately. As I stumbled out and pushed 
crumpled kyat notes through his window, I momentarily glimpsed a scene 
that for me remains as iconic as the famous photograph of American 
marines pushing up the stars and stripes on Iwo Jima.  

A group of students, mostly high school, were clustered beneath a banner 
I had never seen before but recognized immediately. It was the Fighting 
Peacock, the rallying symbol for generations of Burmese students who had 
first asserted themselves between the world wars against British 
colonialists. The Fighting Peacock swept off down the road, borne aloft 
upon a sea of young Burmese heads. With not a policeman in sight, some 
5,000 to 10,000 people poured on to the streets that afternoon. Official 
reports next day mendaciously conceded there were 200.  

This first immense gush of idealistic young humanity was the dummy run 
for demonstrations in August and September that would bring most of 
Rangoon on to the streets sooner or later. There would be similarly 
overwhelming scenes in towns and cities all across the country. This 
demand for a new beginning would cost the lives of an estimated 3,000 
people. The outside world would for the most part looked on uselessly, 
rather bemused by this forgotten, inaccessible country that had 
spontaneously combusted.  

When I first caught sight of those young students racing off beneath 
their beloved Fighting Peacock, two very conflicting thoughts struck me. 
First, in Burma's brutal context -- over three dozen students had been 
suffocated to death by riot police in a prison van only a few weeks 
before -- here was a display of raw courage I had simply never seen 
anything to match. In the soft context of my own student days in 
England, protests were noisy, self-righteous and routine, usually 
shepherded by bored policemen hoping to be home in time for tea. And 
that's what probably prompted my second thought: Students shouldn't be 
doing this kind of thing. It was not the protesting that bothered me, 
but the very real and present danger it posed to the participants.  

As it would turn out, hundreds paid with their lives over the next seven 
weeks, some gunned down right in front of the U.S. embassy in full view 
of appalled diplomats. Thousands more fled to border areas and 
neighboring countries or were incarcerated. For the majority who 
remained, the education system basically closed down and Myanmar's youth 
was left to suck hopelessly on the bitter pill of deprivation. The 
damage is incalculable.  

The military authorities sometimes peddle an outlandish argument that 
Burmese students are intrinsically cleverer than others and will 
therefore have no difficulty catching up. That might be good for the 
national ego but few people anywhere are so clever they can dispense 
with a formal education. The reality is that literally millions of 
formative years have been lost forever by nearly half a generation of 
youngsters, and there is nothing to show for it. 
 
Exiled student leaders have produced reports highlighting the many 
glaring flaws in the "reformed" system students are now returning to. 
The leaders should keep up these constructive critiques because anything 
that contributes to normalizing the educational environment in Myanmar 
is especially valuable. In the meantime, surely everyone should agree 
that reopening classroom doors and lecture halls is absolutely the right 
thing to do, however late. If the academic years are shortened any more 
to deal with the backlog, they'll disappear altogether. Time has run 
out. 




Myanmar Times (SPDC): Getting wired a major priority, says IT boss

September 11-17 ,2000                         
Volume 2, No.28

National News



Myanmar is maneuvering itself to becoming more 'wired' so that it is not 
left behind her ASEAN cousins in terms of information technology, said a 
leading technology expert in Yangon last week.An ASEAN informal summit, 
to be held soon, hopes to sign an agreement for a framework on 
regulation and use of e-commerce, said U Pyone Maung Maung of CE 
Technology, a Yangon-based IT developer.

"But Myanmar is still improving its infrastructure in
telecommunications so that it can create a better environment for 
development of e-commerce and high tech industry - now widely used in 
most nations," said U Pyone. "We need to take this progress in the right 
way. It is totally necessary for us to have both legal and information 
infrastructure," he said.The country is also getting itself prepared for 
the introduction and development of e-commerce as required for being a 
member of ASEAN. 

"For the time being, a Myanmar e-ASEAN taskforce is conducting training 
programs for local people ranging from financial companies through to 
trading groups," he said. Speaking at a conference at the Equatorial 
Hotel last Friday, U Pyone Maung Maung, who is also a high profile 
figure within the Chamber of Commerce, said many of his colleagues in 
the IT sector were anxious to join their regional brothers in taking 
advantage of the global trend towards electronic industry. "We don't 
want to be left behind," he said.

"It is an indispensable task for us to catch up with both regional and 
global trends. Government as well as private organisations are aware of 
the importance of e-commerce," said Ms Nandy of Business Information 
Group, a newly formed company intent on playing a part in Myanmar's 
transition to electronic commerce.





Mon Forum Newsletter: Mon State PDC Bars the Mon Literacy Training in 
Moulmein


>From June, 2000 issue

    On May, 9, 2000, while the members of Mon Literacy and Culture 
Committee (MLCC) Moulmein, is operating the Mon literacy training in 11 
city wards of Moulmein, the capital of Mon State, for Mon children, the 
Mon State PDC (Mon State Peace and Development Council) authorities 
ordered the activists to stop teaching of Mon literature and forced them 
to sign a promising document that they would not continue operating of 
literacy training. One responsible person from MLCC (Moulmein) was 
forced to sign the promising document in front of General-Secretary of 
Mon State PDC, Co. Aung Maw Maw and all activities of operating of Mon 
literacy training was halted by the authorities. The authorities and 
Unit No. 5 of DDSI (Directorate of Defense Services Intelligence) also 
threatened to the activists and students that if someone did not stop 
teaching of Mon literature, he/she must imprisoned. 

    Since April 24, 2000, the activists of MLCC have been active in 
operating Mon literacy training in 11 wards in Moulmein city. About 500 
Mon students and more have gradually joined the literacy training and 
the student numbers have grown in every section class. MLCC also 
provides about 15 Mon teachers including some monks and the bases of the 
training are also in monasteries. The 11 city wards where MLCC conducted 
the literacy training are: San-gyi, Daung-zayat, Thiri-myaing, Say-gyo, 
Myaingthaya, Sayay-gyi-gone, Thei-gone, Pago-chaung, Shwe-myaing-thiri 
(1) and (2). In each city ward, there are about 20-80 students attended 
the classes and many Mon parents send their children to these classes to 
learn how to read and write Mon literature. 

    Actually, this training is arranged by MLCC (Moulmein) to operate 
only for one month period, from the last week of April to the last week 
of May, during the holiday of the government school. The operation of 
the literacy training has not posed any competition to government 
education and school. With objectives to maintain the Mon identity, MLCC 
and the Mon parents in city has tried to arrange such literacy training. 
In every previous year, MLCC (Moulmein) conducted this type of training 
and the authorities didn't take action against them. Thus, when they 
started the training, they did not ask any permission and expected the 
authorities would allow it like every previous year. However, in the 
previous years, the numbers of students who joined the classes were not 
much like this year.  This year, the student numbers have grown and that 
was a reason why the authorities stopped the arrangement of Mon literacy 
training.

    The arrangement of literacy training is late, if compared with 
activities in other Mon villages and towns in Mon State. Other villages 
and towns in Mon State started the training soon after the closing of 
the government schools and the arrival of dry season holiday. The 
training started in March and ended in the last week of April. Mudon 
Township MLCC also arranged the huge closing ceremony of Mon literacy 
training on April 24, 2000. Similarly, the villages and town wards that 
have operated the Mon literacy training hold closing ceremony in the 
last week of April. Only MLCC (Moulmein) could arrange training due to 
difficulties in organizing of the city of Mon people to support the 
training. Normally, some city Mon people forget their identity and have 
not given much support or show their interest to training. However, the 
MLCC (Moulmein) could arrange the training in late April after their 
hard attempt.

    In the villages and towns where the     SPDC authorities have less 
influence on where the local Mon people has strong communities, although 
the authorities tried to close down the training, however they could 
not.  Like in Moulmein, even the capital of Mon State, the Mon 
communities are weak and some Mon people are working as government 
servants and they have less cooperation each other and this condition is 
quite vulnerable from the actions of Mon State PDC authorities to stop 
the Mon literacy training. 







___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
					

Xinhua: Myanmar Rep to Be Chairman of UN Disarmament Body

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 6 (XINHUA) -- Mya Than, the permanent 
representative  of Myanmar to the United Nations Office in Geneva, was 
elected chairman of the First Committee for the 55th General Assembly, 
which is in charge of disarmament and international security, the United 
Nations said here Wednesday.

Mya Than, born in 1944, was elected to the new post on Tuesday 
afternoon,  and he has been closely associated with the work of the 
United Nations  in various capacities since 1984, with disarmament and 
international  security issues in particular.

The senior Myanmar diplomat served twice as deputy permanent  
representative of his country to the United Nations Office in Geneva,  
from 1985 to 1990, and from 1992 to 1996.

He dealt with disarmament questions in the Conference on Disarmament  
before his appointment as the permanent representative to the United  
Nations Office in Geneva in 1999.



  


____________________________________________________



____________________________________________________




____________________________________________________



_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 

Bangkok Post: Thailand stands to benefit by paying for gas, not 
defaulting Potential to improve ties with Rangoon

Sep 11, 2000.

Boonsong Kositchotethana
 
Thailand will be better off paying for natural gas from Burma than by 
refusing to pay on the grounds of circumstances beyond its control. 

Thai authorities came to this decision after examining the economic and 
political implications of declaring force majeure. 

The National Energy Policy Office (Nepo) told the Petroleum Authority of 
Thailand (PTT) that it should pay the groups developing the Yadana and 
Yetagun gas field, but it should press for an easing of the take-or-pay 
terms stipulated in the purchase agreements. 

The state-owned PTT is committed to paying in full for the contracted 
amount of gas, regardless of whether it can process the supply. 

It has taken only partial delivery because of the delay in building the 
Ratchaburi power plant, designed to run on gas piped from Burma's Gulf 
of Martaban. 
"There are more benefits arising from pursuing this course (paying) than 
from declaring force majeure," a senior Thai energy planner said. 

The Council of State said after examining the contracts that it could 
not conclude fully that the PTT was able to declare force majeure in 
order to avoid the contractual penalty for breaching the agreements. 

By adopting a softer approach, Thailand could gain indirect benefits 
including an improvement in trade and investment with Burma, as well as 
build a reputation that Thailand and the PTT would keep their word, 
officials said. 

The PTT will seek a compromise in talks with TotalFina Elf and the 
Yetagun gas group headed by Premier Oil of Britain.
 
It recently paid US$280 million to the Yadana group for the volume of 
gas it had contracted to buy last year, following a $50.47 million 
payment for the committed volume in 1998. 

The PTT was advised to ask the gas producers to make some amendments to 
reduce the burden on Thailand. These are: 

- Allowing the PTT to double the amount of gas that can be purchased 
later than the contracted period to 30% from 15%. 

- Postponing the delivery of natural gas from Yetagun's second stage. 

- Cutting the contractual volume of gas delivery this year from Yadana 
and Yetagun. 
- Revising the contractual rate of gas delivery in order to ensure the 
same rate of return on investment for gas producers. 

Meanwhile, Thailand will try to use more Burmese gas by speeding up 
construction of the Ratchaburi power station, and by laying a new 
west-east gas pipeline from Ratchaburi to Wang Noi, so that some of the 
gas can be diverted to the Wang Noi combined-cycle plant in Ayutthaya. 

As well, gas will be used as a substitute for fuel oil at the South 
Bangkok and Bang Pakong power houses. 

Gas will also be promoted for industrial use and vehicle fuel. 

Assuming the negotiations are successful and plans to increase use of 
gas are realised, the authorities believe the take-or-pay payment 
obligations this year will be reduced to 14.028 billion baht from 25.067 
billion. 

This will also sharply reduce the interest burden on loans taken out by 
the PTT to pay for the gas.  

In a related move, Nepo recently resolved how the interest burden 
arising from the take-or-pay dispute should be split among the parties 
involved, with the public bearing most of the cost.  

_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________


Joint Statement of 11 Foreign Ministers: Restraints on leaders ?affront 
to people throughout the world?

Sept. 11 Joint Statement on Burmese Opposition

 (Restraints on leaders "affront to people throughout the world") (470)

 The U.S. Department of State released a joint statement September 11  
issued in New York by female foreign ministers that condemns the  
Burmese authorities for violating the human rights of the leaders of  
the National League for Democracy, including Aung San Suu Kyi. 
 "We are appalled at the actions of the Burmese regime in holding Aung  
San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy  
under house arrest and constant surveillance," the foreign ministers  
said in the statement.

 "Freedom of speech and freedom of movement are fundamental,  
internationally-recognized human rights," the statement adds. 
 The foreign ministers call upon the Burmese government to stop its  
harassment of the democratic opposition and instead immediately begin  a 
dialogue with democratic leaders "aimed at reconciliation among the  
Burmese people."

 Following is the text of the statement:

 (begin text)

 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
 Office of the Spokesman
 (New York, New York)

 September 11, 2000

 STATEMENT BY RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN

 FEMALE FOREIGN MINISTERS CONDEMN VIOLATION OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S HUMAN
 RIGHTS

 Following is the text of the Joint Statement released in New York by  
Female Foreign Ministers:

 "We are appalled at the actions of the Burmese regime in holding Aung  
San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy  
under house arrest and constant surveillance. Aung San Suu Kyi and her
 colleagues have been tireless champions for democracy in Burma. They  
give voice to the disenfranchised of Burma whose hopes for a just,  
democratic society have been suppressed for too long. Freedom of  speech 
and freedom of movement are fundamental,
 internationally-recognized human rights. The Burmese Government's  
restraints on Aung San Suu Kyi and other National League for Democracy
 leaders are an affront to people throughout the world.

 "We call on the Burmese Government to stop its harassment of the  
democratic opposition and begin immediately a dialogue with Aung San  
Suu Kyi and other democratic leaders aimed at reconciliation among the
 Burmese people."

 The following Foreign Ministers signed the text:

 Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State, United States of America;  
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Foreign Minister, Austria; Nadezhda Mihailova,
 Foreign Minister, Bulgaria; Maria Eugenia Erizuela de Avila, Foreign  
Minister, El Salvador; Maria Soledad Alvear Valenzuela, Foreign  
Minister, Chile; Lydia Polfer, Foreign Minister, Luxembourg; Dr.  Andrea 
Willi, Foreign Minister, Principality of Liechtenstein; Lila  
Ratsifandrihamanana, Foreign Minister, Republic of Madagascar; Lilian  
Patel, Foreign Minister, Malawi; Rosario Green, Foreign Secretary,  
Mexico; Nkosazana Zuma, Foreign Minister, Republic of South Africa;  
Maria E. Levens, Foreign Minister, Suriname; Anna Lindh, Foreign  
Minister, Sweden.


____________________________________________________



The Australian: Burma needs friends, not lectures

By Foreign editor Greg Sheridan 

12sep00
 
BURMA stepped up its litany against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi 
and the US yesterday, saying "internal traitors" are collaborating with 
a new breed of colonisers to destabilise the country. 

The harsh attack coincided with fresh accusations from Thailand that 
Burma was increasing its support for heroin and amphetamine smuggling 
from its territory.  This news might be taken to indicate the futility 
of Australia's attempt to engage the Rangoon regime through the 
provision of human rights training and assistance in setting up a human 
rights commission.  

In fact it illustrates the opposite û the overwhelming need for 
countries to re-engage with Burma.  
Little more than a decade ago, Western governments were working hard 
with the Burmese to pursue poppy substitution programs and to counter 
Burma's appalling AIDS epidemic.  

Now, because of understandable Western protest at the failure of the 
State Peace and Development Council to implement the results of the 1990 
election, which was won by Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for 
Democracy, Western nations have no influence on these matters.  

Admirable as Aung San Suu Kyi is, she should not hold a veto over 
Western or Australian policy towards Burma.  

Far from asking whether Australia's policy of modest engagement has 
worked in the five minutes in which it has been applied, critics should 
ask whether the previous policy of isolation and sanctions had worked 
during the past 10 years.  

The argument for engaging Burma is not that it is not all that bad û 
although in human rights terms it is no worse than Vietnam and 
infinitely better than North Korea û but that it is very bad indeed and 
only engagement offers any prospect of even marginal improvement.  

The Howard Government deserves credit for this rare case in which it is 
showing political courage to engage a South-East Asian nation positively 
and have some beneficial influence.  
The argument against engagement is sentimental and hopeless. It is also 
hypocritical. No serious foreign policy figure opposes engaging North 
Korea, which is worse on every measure than Burma, but which has a 
nuclear weapon. Even without a nuclear weapon, North Korea's best chance 
of being brought to more civilised behaviour is through increased 
interaction and openness with the outside world.  

In North Korea, and in Burma, this is not going to produce democracy. 
But it might possibly produce a Chinese-style economic opening, which 
would in turn help the living standards of the people, create much 
greater civic space for them and generally loosen the tightness of the 
Government's grip.  

In a sense, AIDS and drugs are Burma's nuclear weapons. The region, 
Australia included, has an enormous interest in trying to control these 
problems in Burma.  

Many countries, including all the ASEAN members plus Japan, China and 
India, already engage Burma. But nothing would do more to open the place 
up than Western investment and multilateral loans.



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