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BurmaNet News: August 14, 2001



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
           August 14, 2001   Issue # 1865
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


NOTED IN PASSING: "Burma's (military) is extremely corrupt with drug 
runners, mafia, and forced labor..." 

Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and 
International Studies in Washington, D.C.  See United Press 
International: Military professionalism on rise in Asia? 

INSIDE BURMA _______
*Reuters: Myanmar says bad publicity hit tourism industry
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Wa relocating people out of season

MONEY _______
*AFP: Thai government to act against rampant gambling 

GUNS______
*United Press International: Military professionalism on rise in Asia? 
*The New Light of Myanmar: Deputy defence chief receives Cambodian 
military delegation 

DRUGS______
*The Press Trust of India: Heroin worth Rs 10 mn recovered, 2 Myanmarese 
held 

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Bangkok Post: Repatriation of 5,000 halted - Political situation does 
not warrant immigrants' return
*Bangkok Post: Border meet put off till next month  
*AP: Malaysia sentences Indian, Indonesian, Myanmar illegals to prison 

EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*Bangkok Post: Regional struggle off to shaky start 




					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________




Reuters: Myanmar says bad publicity hit tourism industry

YANGON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The growth of tourism in military-ruled 
Myanmar has fallen short of expectations due to bad publicity and the 
impact of the Asian economic crisis, a senior ruling general was quoted 
as saying on Tuesday. 

 Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, Secretary One of the ruling State Peace 
and Development Council (SPDC), was quoted in the official Kyemon 
newspaper as saying Myanmar had plenty of potential to speedily develop 
its tourism industry. 

 ``Due to the currency crisis in southeast Asia in 1997 and 
misinformation spread by Western news agencies and those who fled abroad 
after violating the law, the development of the tourism industry in 
Myanmar fell short of expectations,'' he said. 
 Official figures show there were 208,676 tourist arrivals in the year 
to end-March, down from 246,007 in the corresponding period a year. 

 ``Today, peace has returned and true news about Myanmar has gradually 
become known throughout the world, and the tourism industry has begun to 
pick up,'' Khin Nyunt said. 

 The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel Peace 
Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has urged tourists to boycott the country 
in protest at the military government. 

 Suu Kyi has been under de facto house arrest in her Yangon residence 
since last September. 

 The country has been isolated by most Western nations due to its 
political conflict with the NLD and allegations of widespread human 
rights abuses. 

 The military government began confidential peace talks with Suu Kyi in 
October, and has released more than 150 detained NLD members since then. 


 In a bid to improve its image, Myanmar has also begun satellite 
broadcasts of English-language programmes about the country.
 
 The impoverished country's economy is starved of foreign capital, and 
the government has been trying to promote tourism. 





___________________________________________________



Shan Herald Agency for News: Wa relocating people out of season


The Wa have, for the first time in two years, violated their own policy 
of  moving their people down south from the Chinese border only during 
the dry  season to moving them also during the monsoons, said source 
form the Thai  border.

On 29 July, 300 people arrived in Teusarn village, Maekin Tract, 15 
miles  south of Mongton. They were moved to Mongkhid, 3 miles east, 
again on 8  August.

An 86-year old resettler told the source all his life he had never even  
ventured far from his village in the north. "The (Wa) soldiers trained  
their rifles at us and told us to get on board the trucks. We didn't 
even  have time to collect our essential belongings," he said. "They 
told us we  would receive assistance here, but from what we have heard 
from those who  arrived before us, the assistance is only in name. They 
said many of them  survived only through eating bamboo shoots, edible 
leaves and tuberous roots." 
All of them are leaving their fields and gardens behind, he said. 
The group was led by Ah Kaw, 47.

According to Lahu and Shan sources, 1,000 families have been targeted 
for  the monsoon relocations: 300 in Mongton, 200 in Monghsat and the 
rest in  Tachilek and Monghpyak.

About 1,000 had already arrived in Wianglarn, 40 miles north of 
Tachilek,  on 22 July, said another source.

The Wa program that reportedly aims to resettle 50,000 families within  
three years (1999 - 2002) has already passed its halfway mark, according 
to  sources in the area.

A Lahu source said, "On 17 December 2000 alone, they brought down 1,432  
households (8,479 persons) to Mongton township's 8 villages between  
Mongharng and Border Pass-1 (Opposite Chiangdao District, Chiangmai  
Province). The transfers during the dry season, therefore, are quite 
swift." 

___________________________________________________







______________________MONEY________________________



AFP: Thai government to act against rampant gambling 

BANGKOK, Aug 14 (AFP) - Thailand raised the alarm Tuesday over the 
staggering amount of money being gambled by its citizens in casinos 
across the border in neighbouring Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. 

 The National Intelligence Agency said Thais were wagering some 7.0 
billion baht (156 million dollars) each year at 18 casinos strategically 
situated next to busy border checkpoints. 

 An estimated 500,000 gamblers frequented the establishments -- 13 in 
Cambodia, four in Myanmar and one in Laos, it said. 

 The figures caused dismay at the cabinet's weekly meeting, where 
ministers vowed to map out measures to discourage the mania for gambling 
and the resulting flow of funds outside Thailand. 

 "The cabinet acknowledged the problem and will work out ways to prevent 
gambling activity and stop the economic losses," said government 
spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang. 




_______________________GUNS________________________




United Press International: Military professionalism on rise in Asia? 


August 13, 2001, Monday 



By SUSAN HELEN MORAN, for United Press International 

WASHINGTON, Aug.13 


Military professionalism is on the rise in Asia, according to a new 
study released by the East West Center, a think tank headquartered in 
Honolulu. 

The study uses two definitions of military professionalism to describe 
the trend in 10 Asian countries. The old "military professionalism," a 
term coined by Samuel Huntington in the 1950s, describes a well-trained, 
educated, apolitical military that is subject to civilian authority and 
professionally manages violence from external, international sources. 

The "new military professionalism," coined by Alfred Stepan in the 
1970s, describes a military that has interrelated political and military 
skills, is concerned with subversive and internal security, and focuses 
on national development. 

The report, edited by Muthiah Alagappa, covers India, Japan, South 
Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Burma. 
Contributors to the report included active duty and retired Asian 
military professionals. 

Several Washington policy analysts, however, disagree with the report's 
views. 

"It seems an overgeneralization," says James Lilley, senior fellow at 
the American Enterprise Institute. Lilley says that China and South 
Korea's militaries are becoming more professional and outward-oriented, 
but not, for instance, Indonesia's or Burma's militaries. 

To Lilley, who was the U.S. ambassador to China from 1989 to 1991, a 
truly professional military is one focused on external threats: "The 
military should stay the hell out of internal security," he says. 

The military in Myanmar, formerly Burma, is probably the furthest away 
from the "old" military professionalism, says Derek Mitchell, a senior 
fellow in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic 
and International Studies in Washington, D.C. 

Although Myanmar has had much encouragement from outside nations to 
democratize, the military regime has held on tightly to political and 
economic power, says Mitchell. After a democratic election in 1990 in 
which a civilian woman won the popular vote, she was kept under house 
arrest by what Mitchell calls the "scared, small cabal at the top." 

"Burma's (military) is extremely corrupt with drug runners, mafia, and 
forced labor," says Mitchell. The military is propelled by fear that the 
country will disintegrate into another Yugoslavia, he says. 

In Indonesia, some signs of civilian control are evident on the national 
level, but on the local level the military continues to exercise 
political authority, creating their own fiefdoms in many areas, says 
Mitchell. 

"These guys have weapons, authority, allies, and tradition," he 
explains. Any transition away from the military's participation in local 
politics and business affairs will be a long time coming, according to 
Mitchell. 

"The army is really the only fully functional institution in Indonesia," 
he says. 

Yet Alagappa, who concedes that the military in Indonesia is still 
heavily involved in commercial enterprises and internal security 
matters, points to signs of progress. 

"Since 1998, active duty officers have been barred from holding 
political and administrative positions in government. The military's 
allotted seats in parliament were reduced from 75 to 38 and this 
allotment is scheduled to end in the next election in 2004," he says. 

Algappa is not alone. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian 
and Pacific Affairs James Kelly said that he is optimistic about the 
Indonesian army's role under the new president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, 
according to a recent article on the Near Eastern Economic Review web 
site. 

For many analysts, the questions become even tougher when it comes to 
China. They agree that China's military is increasingly professional. 

"The important question is, 'What does this mean?'" says Lilley. China's 
increasingly professional military is cause for concern, he says, since 
China lays claim to Taiwan and the South China Seas and has reserved the 
right to use military force there. 

"China is one of the most important countries militarily to watch," 
agrees Brookings Institute senior fellow Michael O'Hanlon. Yet he 
disagrees that China would successfully attack Taiwan. 

"China produces no top-notch fighter jets, for example, and is also weak 
in areas such as submarine and ship production. China's large armed 
forces, roughly twice the size of the U.S. military, drain resources 
away from modernization and training," he says. 

"China's military has a long way to go to become (truly) professional," 
says O'Hanlon. "They still (operate) internally to suppress populations 
in the Western part of the country." 

Controversy over whether China's increasing military professionalization 
poses a threat came to a head this week with the resignation of the U.S. 
military's top policymaker for China. Col. John F. Corbett Jr., will 
resign over "what his colleagues described as 'dismay' at the tough 
attitude toward Beijing adopted by President George W. Bush," according 
to the Near Eastern Economic Review web site. 

"Corbett, the senior country director for China in the Pentagon, 
believed the Chinese military's modernization efforts were part of a 
normal professionalization process, not, as the Bush administration has 
portrayed them, a threat to Asia's security," according to the article. 

Two less controversial examples of the rise of the "old military 
professionalism" are South Korea and Taiwan, according to the EWC study. 


"Under presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, the ROK armed forces 
have embarked on an ambitious restructuring program with the goal of 
transforming itself into a small, modern high-tech military institution 
equipped with advanced weapon systems," writes Alagappa. 

"In Taiwan, active duty military officers can no longer hold political 
office, and political parties have been barred from operating within the 
military," he writes. Internal security is now the responsibility of the 
police force. Although commercial enterprises, including media, are 
still owned by the military, a gradual process is underway to divest 
them, Alagappa says. 

Growing democratic political systems and strengthening economies are 
causing shifts in political power and economic development enterprises 
away from the military in parts of Asia, resulting in militaries gaining 
more skill and education in the management of violence, according to the 
study. 

Alagappa concludes the study with recommendations "to mobilize domestic 
and international pro-democracy forces to permanently alter the balance 
of power in favor of democratic institutions to isolate the military 
from politics, to terminate non-security roles, and bring the military 
under civilian direction." 

For these goals to be achieved, Alagappa says states must "strengthen 
the legitimacy, capacity, and roles of civilian institutions, sustain 
economic development, and reduce coercion in governance." 

Exactly what U.S. foreign policy could achieve these ideals, however, 
remains to be seen. 

"Indonesia is a good example to show the difficulty," says O'Hanlon. 
Does the United States want to start training the Indonesian military in 
the hopes that it will improve in professionalism, or should the United 
States stay away from it, because of the Indonesian military's "bad 
behavior?" 

"It's a tough question," he says. 




___________________________________________________




The New Light of Myanmar: Deputy defence chief receives Cambodian 
military delegation 

11 Aug 01 


[Excerpt from The New Light of Myanmar web site on 11 August]


Yangon Rangoon , 10 August Vice-Chairman of the State Peace and 
Development Council of the Union of Myanmar Deputy Commander-in-Chief of 
Defence Services Commander-in-Chief (Army) Gen Maung Aye received Deputy 
Commander-in-Chief of Cambodia Lt-Gen Kun Kim and party at the guest 
house of the Ministry of Defence this afternoon. Also present at the 
call were Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council Chief 
of the Office of Strategic Studies Director of Defence Services 
Intelligence Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, member of the State Peace and 
Development Council Chairman of Yangon Division Peace and Development 
Council Commander of Yangon Command Maj-Gen Khin Maung Than, Chief of 
Armed Forces Training Maj-Gen Win Myint, Chief of Staff (navy) Cdre Soe 
Thein, Director of Military Training Brig-Gen Aung Kyi, Colonel-General 
Staff (Air) Col Khin Maung Tin, high-ranking officers of the Ministry of 
Defence and Ambassador of Cambodia Mr Nim Chantara... 

A 22-member delegation led by Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal 
Army of Cambodia Lt-Gen Kun Kim arrived here on a goodwill visit by air 
this morning. The delegation was welcomed at Yangon International 
Airport by Chief of Armed Forces Training Maj-Gen Win Myint of the 
Ministry of Defence, Director of Military Training Brig-Gen Aung Kyi and 
senior military officers, Ambassador of Cambodia Mr Nim Chantara and 
embassy staff... 

Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army of Cambodia Lt-Gen Kun Kim 
called on Chief of Armed Forces Training Maj-Gen Win Myint at the 
Ministry of Defence this afternoon. Also present were Commandant of 
National Defence College Maj-Gen Moe Hein, Director of Military Training 
Brig-Gen Aung Kyi and officials of the Ministry of Defence, Ambassador 
of Cambodia Mr Nim Chantara and the goodwill delegation members. The 
Cambodian delegation visited the Defence Services Museum on the 
Shwedagon Pagoda Road at 3.00 p.m. Then, the Cambodian delegation went 
to the Shwedagon Pagoda at 4.00 p.m. The delegation members paid homage 
to the pagoda and made donations to the funds of the pagoda. Chief of 
Armed Forces Training Maj-Gen Win Myint hosted a dinner in honour of the 
Cambodian delegation. 



________________________DRUGS______________________




  
The Press Trust of India: Heroin worth Rs 10 mn recovered, 2 Myanmarese 
held  


Aizawl, Aug 13 


In the biggest haul of heroin in Mizoram (northeast India) in two years, 
Indian Excise officials recovered 762 grams of the contraband worth Rs 
10 million, and detained two people from Myanmar, about 200 km from 
here, Excise department sources said Monday. 

Thankhanmarg (42) and Tluangthang (40) were detained Sunday at Champhai 
near Myanmar border, the sources said adding the duo were booked under 
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. 







___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________



Bangkok Post: Repatriation of 5,000 halted - Political situation does 
not warrant immigrants' return 

Tuesday 14 August 2001

Supamart Kasem 

Thai and UNHCR officials have suspended a plan to repatriate more than 
5,000 illegal immigrants from Burma who are being sheltered in a refugee 
camp in Tha Song Yang district.

The United Nations officials reasoned the current political situation in 
Burma does not warrant the immigrants' return.

Originally, the repatriation of 5,606 illegal immigrants from Mae La 
refugee camp was to begin on Sunday. But authorities decided to suspend 
the plan because the timing was not right.

Moreover, most of those seeking refuge in Thailand do not want to be 
repatriated because of uncertainties about their safety and a place 
where they could return to earn a decent living.

Many of those on the repatriation list said they did not see how they 
would be able to survive in Burma as their land, houses and other 
properties had been confiscated by the authorities in Rangoon.

Many villages had also been turned into military bases for the 
pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.

A Muslim at Mae La camp said many of the Muslims and Christians who 
returned to their home villages in Kawkareik, Kamamaung, Papun, Yinbaing 
and Hlaingbwe districts in Karen state, and Kyaito, Thaton and Mudon in 
Mon state two or three years ago had been mistreated by Burmese 
authorities, which forced them to flee back to Thailand.
				
	





Bangkok Post: Border meet put off till next month 

Tuesday 14 August 2001

By Wassana Nanuam 

Next week's scheduled Thailand-Burma border meeting has been postponed 
until next month so that Burma's State Peace and Development Council 
first secretary Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt can take part.

The 19th Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting will now be held in 
early September. It was scheduled for Aug 22-24 in Pattaya with Third 
Army chief Lt-Gen Wathanachai Chaimuanwong and Burma's Triangle Regional 
Commander Maj-Gen Thein Sein joining in the talks.

Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt will arrive in Bangkok in the first week of September 
for talks with Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and military 
leaders to discuss co-operation, drug suppression and border problems.

Army commander Gen Surayud Chulanont said he wanted to discuss joint 
Thai-Burmese patrol operations and drug and border problems. Thailand 
was ready to help Burmese ethnic minorities find other occupations to 
curb drug production.

Lt-Gen Wathanachai said he had invited Maj-Gen Thein Sein to a friendly 
round of golf and informal talks in Chiang Rai ahead of the RBC meeting 
in Pattaya.



	





AP: Malaysia sentences Indian, Indonesian, Myanmar illegals to prison 

August 14, 2001


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) _ A court sentenced 117 illegal immigrants 
from India, Indonesia and Myanmar to five months' imprisonment Tuesday 
for overstaying their visas and not having valid travel documents. 
 Magistrate Rosli Ahmad ordered the offenders, who include 20 women, to 
serve their sentences from the date of arrest two weeks ago. They will 
then be deported, the national news agency Bernama reported. 
 Malaysia is one of region's wealthier countries and attracts illegal 
immigrants from poorer nations seeking work, mostly from Indonesia and 
the Philippines. Authorities estimate that there are more than 1 million 
illegal immigrants in this nation of 23 million people. 




___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________



Bangkok Post: Regional struggle off to shaky start 

Tuesday 14 August 2001

Last week's opening meeting on regional co-operation in fighting drugs 
was a major letdown and disappointment. Senior officials were sent to 
Rangoon to begin a six-week process that is to set new priorities in 
slowing, and then ending, the relentless flow of drugs into, and 
through, the region. If last week's meeting was a measure of the 
international commitment, we have a long way to go. The meeting of 
senior government and law enforcement officers was a mediocre repetition 
of conference-worn cliches, with no apparent ideas or recommendations 
for imaginative new approaches to this dangerous problem.

That puts a huge burden on the security and drug ministers of China, 
Burma, Laos and Thailand. They will meet in Beijing in two weeks. The 
original plan was for the ministers to consider, refine and co-ordinate 
the fresh, considered plans of their civil servants. The bureaucracy has 
failed, and that has put the spotlight on the politicians. If the 
ministers cannot come up with bright ideas that can galvanise the good 
people of the region against drug traffickers, then the Kunming summit 
of prime ministers in September is in danger before it even begins.

That would be not just a shame but a disaster. Chinese Prime Minister 
Zhu Rongji suggested the summit during his visit to Bangkok in May. 
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra immediately joined him in the attempt 
to boost the meeting into a meaningful event. The leaders of Laos and 
Burma have joined. It would be unacceptable to dash the hopes of 
citizens in this region. Yet it is clear that the Kunming conference 
cannot be successful if it merely results in more mouthing of the 
obvious.

That is what occurred in Burma last week. The meeting began to fail when 
Col Kyaw Thein gave his opening speech. He said the meeting of senior 
officials of the Golden Triangle nations plus China demonstrated to the 
world that the four countries were ``politically committed to drug 
elimination''. The Burmese official may have believed his own words. It 
would be a shame if he did, since the meeting demonstrated no such 
thing.

Instead, officials tossed around long known and much discussed 
recommendations ranging from how to reduce drug demand and supply, to 
how to improve law enforcement procedures. If the officials came up with 
an original idea, they failed to pass it along to the public. Indeed, 
readers of this newspaper may have noticed the distinct lack of public 
interest in last week's meeting. The meeting demonstrated to the world 
that a rehash of old ideas will not win the confidence, or even the 
interest, of even the most concerned citizens.

Ministers should be aware that the lack of media interest was only 
partly because the meeting was held in a country that punishes reporters 
and restricts the press. The Burmese government can't stop interesting, 
influential news. The drug officials who met last week failed to provide 
any. The ministers now must come up with imaginative proposals if 
regional co-operation against drugs is to move forward.

Let there be no mistake. There is no acceptable alternative to enhanced 
co-operation. The Burmese drug makers and traffickers, the Lao poppy 
growers, the Chinese heroin salesmen and the Thai drug pushers are 
winning what can only be described as a war. Prime Minister Thaksin is 
determined to hurt the drug traffickers. He has the support of Thai 
citizens, and regional leaders say they also are committed. But prime 
ministers can't win this fight by themselves. The drug trafficking 
industry is subverting and killing the youths of Thailand and 
neighbours. Senior officials and ministers must come up with creative 
and original ways to fight them.










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