From: BurmaNet ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: July 26 1995 ASEAN TO 'STUDY POSITIVELY' BURMA'S REQUEST TO JOIN ASEAN TO STUDY BURMA AS VN BECOME MEMBER BURMESE TROOPS ATTACKED ASEAN MINISTERS GET TOGETHER TO PLAN STRATEGY BURMA EXPECTED TO SIGN TREATY TO UPGRADE ITS ASEAN STATUS CHAVALIT TO VISIT TO RANGOON ON A 'SEMI-OFFICIAL' TRIP KAREN GUERRILLAS MEET TO PURGE OLD GUARD FROM RANKS TRIANGLE LESS "GOLDEN" BUT STILL A DRUG SOURCE BURMA WON'T BE GRANTED AUTOMATIC OBSERVER STATUS BRIGHT FUTURE AWAITS ASEAN THOUGH ROAD WON'T BE EASY 'SHOW SLORC WE TRUST THEM,' SUU KYI URGES BURMA'S MINORITIES ASEAN DECIDES TO PLAY IT COOL WITH RANGOON CHARAN URGES GOVT TO STOP INFLUX OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SPECIAL BRANCH TO PROVIDE TIGHT SECURITY FOR SUU KYI PROPOSED SUU KYI TRIBUTE QUESTIONED WRONG TIME FOR SANCTIONS ON BURMA: US OFFICIAL ---------------------------------------------------------- o-------------------------------o The BurmaNet News is an | | electronic newspaper | Iti | covering Burma. 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Sutcliffe" World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com Volunteering: Dr. Christina Fink c/o burmanet@igc.apc.org [Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage] ---------------------------------------------------------- ===== item ===== ASEAN TO 'STUDY POSITIVELY' BURMA'S REQUEST TO JOIN The Nation /24.7.95 Agence France-Presse KUALA LUMPUR - Asean is to study "positively" Burma's request to join the grouping during next week'smeeting in Brunei, a top diplomat said yesterday. Malaysia's foreign ministry secretary-general Ahmad Kamil Jaafar said while Asean had set no timetable for Burma's entry, it had a target to have an "Asean-10" - an enlarged 10-nation group - also embracing Cambodia and Laos "by the turn of the century". "It is to fulfil the aspiration and wishes of our Asean founding fathers," Kamil said in an interview. "The prospects of an Asean 10 are great both in terms of greater political stability in the region as well as in the enlarged Asean's economic potential and regional prosperity," Kamil said. Malaysia, for its part, would consider Burma's interest in acceding to its Treaty of Amity and Cooperation positively, said Kamil, who has participated in Asean's annual ministerial meeting for the seven years. "The Treaty provides the mechanism for the conduct of relations and is meant for the region of Southeast Asia. We cannot say no to countries in the region which want to subscribe to it," he said before departing for Brunei at the head of senior officials meeting. The three-day senior officials meeting precedes the annual conference of Asean's foreign ministers. "It will make nonsense of that treaty if Burma is denied entry," Kamil said, while welcoming the recent release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying he believed Asean's policy of constructive engagement had been a contributory factor. "But we should not dictate to Burma its internal policy as Malaysia does not want others to dictate what kind of democracy we should have," Kamil said. ===== item ===== ASEAN TO STUDY BURMA AS VN BECOME MEMBER Bkk Post/24.7.95 Kuala Lumpur, AFP ASEAN will study "positively" Burma's request to join the group during this week's meeting in Brunei which will see Vietnam admitted as the group's seventh member, a top diplomat said yesterday. Malaysia's foreign ministry secretary-general Ahmad Kamil Jaafar said while ASEAN had set no timetable for Burma's entry, it had a target to have an " ASEAN 10" - an enlarged 10-nation group-also embracing Cambodia and Laos by the turn of the century. "It is to fulfil the aspiration and wishes of our ASEAN founding fathers," Kamil said in an interview. With opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi just released from nearly six years of house arrest, Burma's military rulers apparently think they have done what they must to gain the world's acceptance. ASEAN statesmen hailed the release as a vindication of their policy of promoting economic and political ties with the junta over the protests of Western partners who preached isolation as the best means of encouraging change. But the same statesmen were understood to be reluctant to move too quickly to embrace Burma as a full-fledged partner. While Burmese Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw is expected to seek full observer status at the meeting in Brunei, some members have already let it be known that they see not need to short-cut procedures. The Burmese "are being quietly told there is no hurry, that next year should be soon enough," a regional diplomat said. "The lady" herself-as the junta referred to Aung San Suu Kyi obliquely over the past six years of her detention -has urged potential international partners not to rush into anything. "I have been released. That is all. Nothing else has changed," she told reporters at her home in Rangoon. According to Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Rodolfo Severino: "If the goal is to open up Myanmar's economy, open up Myanmar's political system, develop pluralistic democracy there, then the only way to do that is to keep them engaged in the world rather than isolating them." The Association of South-east Asian Nations now groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Kamil said the prospects of an ASEAN 10 were great both in terms of greater political stability in the region as well as in the enlarged ASEAN's economic potential and regional prosperity. Malaysia, for its part, would consider Burma's interest in acceding to its Treaty of Amity and Cooperation positively, said Kamil, who has participated in ASEAN's annual ministerial meetings for the past seven years. "The treaty provides the mechanism for the conduct of relations and is meant for the region of Southeast Asia. We cannot say no to countries in the region which want to subscribe to it," he said before departing for Brunei at the head of a Malaysian delegation to the ASEAN senior officials meeting. "It will make nonsense of that treaty if Burma is denied entry," Kamil said, while welcoming the recent release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying he believed ASEAN's policy of constructive engagement had been a contributing factor. "But we should not dictate to Burma its internal policies as Malaysia does not want others to dictate what kind of democracy we should have," Kamil said, in dismissing the isolation policy preached by the Western powers. Acceding to the 1976 treaty, which sets a code of conduct for signatories, is a prerequisite for full membership of ASEAN, formed in 1967 as a bulwark against communism during the Vietnam War. Laos and Vietnam-which is to be admitted at the forth-coming meeting as ASEAN's seventh member-signed the treaty in July 1992, to signal an end to more than a decade of hostility between Indochina and ASEAN. Cambodia acceded to the treaty on July 2. "A concept paper on how to enhance security in the region will be presented at the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting," Kamil said, referring to the security forum that follows the ministerial meeting. The forum, scheduled for August 1, will be followed by ASEAN's meeting with its dialogue partners - Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States. The 18-member forum, established last year in Bangkok, groups ASEAN members with major Pacific powers among them China, Vietnam, Russia and the United States. ===== item ===== BURMESE TROOPS ATTACKED Bkk POst/24.7.95 Mae Hong Son HEAVY fighting took place in side Burma yesterday when hundreds of Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) soldiers launched an attack on a Burmese government position about 40 kilometers across the border from this provincial town, a border source said. The attack followed the KNPP's July 20 announcement for Rangoon troops to withdraw from the area they control. The Burmese soldiers have not withdrawn. however, and reinforcements have been sent to the area instead. The KNPP has staged several ambushes while the majority of its forces have been attacking a government position at Talad Mae Yu where many Rangoon troops are believed to have been killed. The din from the fighting could be clearly heard in Mae Hong Son. ===== item ===== ASEAN MINISTERS GET TOGETHER TO PLAN STRATEGY Bkk Post/24.7.95 by Post Foreign Desk ASEAN foreign ministers will get together for their annual meeting in Brunei this week to set strategies for the group amid signs of improvement unfolding in the region. Changes in Vietnam and Burma will prompt the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to assume a more active role in regional cooperation. "We think it's time for even closer cooperation among Southeast Asia nations," said Thai Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Saroj Chavanaviraj. Laos, Cambodia and Burma, which belong geographically to the region, should be fully aware of ASEAN's actions and thoughts about the region in the lead-up to their eventual membership of ASEAN in the future. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will officially admit Vietnam as a seventh member this Friday (July 28) on the eve of the 28th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting to be held in the Bruneian capital of Bandar Seri Begawan. Senior ASEAN officials begin talks today to prepare agendas for their ministers. Vietnam's entry tears down the ideological barriers hitherto separating ASEAN from its Indochinese neighbours. It's the first step towards integration of other non-member states under one umbrella. The release of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi by the Burmese military junta makes it easier for the group to think seriously about the future role of Burma in ASEAN. Burma will be represented as a guest of the host country for the second year and its foreign minister Ohn Gyaw has made clear that Rangoon wants to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, which would pave the way for an observer status and eventual full membership. But the accession to the treaty does not mean Burma immediately will become an observer, unlike the cases of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. ASEAN members need to further consider granting observer status to Rangoon. And ASEAN officials do not want to rush the issue when uncertainties still prevail in Burma's internal politics. How fast the next step will be depends upon discussions among ASEAN senior officials in the forthcoming session," explained Norachit Sinhaseni, the director of the East Asian Affairs Department's Division One which covers Indochina (including Burma). Deputy Permanent Secretary Saroj insisted that ASEAN would not review "the constructive engagement policy" it has adopted towards Burma since 1988 as Aung San Suu Kyi's release does not mean all things inside Burma have been settled. Her freedom only signals Rangoon's flexibility towards national reconciliation. "Burma is trying to rebuild the country. If negotiations between the government and its ethnic groups, with the cooperation of Aung San Suu Kyi succeed, the situation in Burma will improve," said Mr Saroj. Preparations for a historic meeting of leaders of 10 Southeast Asian nations in Bangkok later this year is another item on the agenda in Brunei, as ASEAN leaders are pondering how to accommodate Burma, Laos and Cambodia. "ASEAN does not want the 10 Southeast Asian leaders meeting to overshadow the ASEAN summit. Yet at the same time, it does not want leaders of non-ASEAN nations to feel left out from discussions," he said explaining the delicacy of the matter. Thailand will host the fifth ASEAN Summit on December 14-15. The out come of the Brunei consultations will provide input for the Bangkok summit which aims to establish a vision of "ASEAN towards the 21st century. In Brunei, ASEAN ministers will invite their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea to an informal luncheon to discuss the future of the East Asian Economic Caucus, an idea proposed by vigorously pursed by Malaysia, Asean is expected to reiterate its determination to go ahead with the caucus which will operate under the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, another larger organisation in which Asean also belongs. On another crucial topic, Asean will get together with the so- called European Union troika _ Spain, France and Italy, which are past, incumbent and future chairmen of the Union _ to form ideas on participation, the agenda and venue for the first Europe-Asia meeting tentatively scheduled for March next year in Bangkok. The officials are expected to develop what will transpire from the original idea for an ASEAN-EU summit. A moderate achievement would be an agreement on the title of the gathering, which is no longer an Asean-EU Summit but a prosaic and interim Europe Australia and New Zealand have expressed an interest in participating. On the problem front, the South China Sea conflict, Burma and nuclear matters will surely surface during the ministerial talks in Brunei. Competing claims over the Spratlys will figure during the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), which takes place next Monday. For the first time, Cambodia, as an observer to the Asean meeting, will attend the forum together with the line-up of other 18 participants. After its debut in Bangkok last year, the ARF has arrived at a critical juncture whereby some participants have called upon matters of substance _ such as the potential South China Sea flashpoint _ to be addressed concretely. The call came from the US, but China, which is staking an aggressive claim to both the Spratlys and Paracels, has objected to the inclusion of the south China Sea topic in the Asean Regional Forum. ASEAN prefer to see the regional forum evolve at its own natural pace, with the creation of mutual trust the primary goal at this stage. "We are not trying to escape problems... but if one member, a significant player at that, is uncomfortable about certain things, we have to take into account her feeling," said an analyst in obvious reference to China. "And since she's