------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: May 3, 1997 Issue #711 HEADLINES: ========== UNITED STATES SENATE: LETTER TO MADELEINE K.ALBRIGHT. BURMANET: CHINA-BURMA RELATIONS THE NATION: CHINS FEEL THE PINCH AS BURMA, INDIA THE NATION: HEROIN SPILLS OVER INTO INDIAN FRONTIER BKK POST: WA ARMY RELOCATES DRUG BASES FBC PRESS RELEASE: NORTHWEST DROPS HEROIN HOTEL THE NATION: BURMESE STUDENTS SLAM OIL FIRMS' REUTERS: KNU SOFTENS UNDER PRESSURE FROM US BKK POST: RELAXED DEADLINES DISCUSSED BKK POST: US SANCTIONS MUST NOT CLOUD THE ISSUE FEER: SANCTIONING BURMA BKK POST: THAILAND EYES BURMESE PORTS ----------------------------------------------------------------- UNITED STATES SENATE: LETTER TO MADELEINE K.ALBRIGHT. April 30, 1997 From: democratic Voice of Burma UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS WASHINGTON, DC 20510 3225 April 30,1997 The Honorable Madeleine K. Albright Secretary U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street N.W. Washington, D.C. Dear Madam Secretary: We are profoundly troubled by the plight of Karen refugees along the Thailand-Burma border. Since January, Burma's military forces have brutally attacked the Karen in a blatant attempt to wipe out one of the last remaining forces of opposition to the SLORC regime. Thailand has forcibly repatriated many Karen refugees who fled the fighting. Although there has been a lull in Thailand's repatriation efforts, we are apprehensive that another and larger forcible repatriation may be imminent. For that reason, we respectfully urge that you communicate directly with Prime Minister Chavalit the strong United States opposition to any forcible repatriation of Karen refugees, as well as the United State's concern that humanitarian agencies be granted access to the refugees. As a longtime ally of Thailand, the United States has assisted the Thai government in providing assistance to the Karen and other refugee populations. We wish to continue providing such assistance. We genuinely appreciate your efforts on behalf of democracy and freedom in Burma and the Administration's recent decision to impose a ban on new U.S. investment in Burma. Sincerely, Signed by. Daniel Patrick Moynihan Jesse Helms Mitch Mc Connell Patrick J. Leahy Alfonse M, D' Amato Edward M. Kennedy *********************************************** BURMANET: CHINA-BURMA RELATIONS April 1997 "Now the SLORC and the Chinese government are shaking hands over the table, but kicking each other under the table." - a Burmese political analyst China's policy toward Burma is driven by economic and national security concerns rather than by ideological positions. The Chinese government is primarily interested in developing trade routes and expanding business opportunities in Burma. They are also concerned about the indirect effects of SLORC policies on their own population, particularly in terms of spreading drug addiction and bringing instability to their border areas. The Chinese government wants to see stability in Burma, but the SLORC does not seem to be capable of instituting a system which can guarantee long-term peace and order. Previously, the Chinese government viewed Aung San Suu Kyi as too weak to hold the country together and believed that only the SLORC could bring stability to the country. Now they are beginning to doubt the SLORC's abilities in several key areas. 1. controlling the ethnic minority groups. Between 1989 and 1995, ceasefires have been established with the ethnic minority political organizations based along the China-Burma border - namely, the Kachin Independence Organization, the United Wa State Party, and two groups of Shan (the Shan State Army and the Shan State National Army). However none of the groups are satisfied with the ceasefires as they haven't received the promised material benefits and the SLORC has sought to expand its presence in the ceasefire areas. China is intent on developing highways and railroads connecting Yunnan province with India and Central Burma. Many of these roads have already been prepared on the Chinese side of the border. The Chinese government is concerned about the lack of stability in Northern Burma and the possibilities that the roads/railroads would not be viable because of threats of attacks. 2. the economy. Because the members of the SLORC do not have strong educational backgrounds, particularly in economics, the Chinese government does not have confidence in the SLORC's ability to manage an open market economy. They see that the living standards of people in Burma are going down, meaning the purchasing power of most Burmese is declining and the people are increasingly dissatisfied with the government. Moreover, the SLORC has not instituted a set of clear economic policies; particularly in terms of import and export restrictions. The regulations seem to change according to the whims of the SLORC officials in charge. As long as the SLORC continues to mismanage the economy, long-term business opportunities cannot be developed. 3. drugs. The Beijing government is not happy with the large amount of drugs coming into China from Burma. They believe that the SLORC cannot control the major drug dealers such as the United Wa State Army, the Kokang, and the Eastern Shan State Army, led by Lin Ming Xian. They are also aware of the SLORC's role in encouraging and profiting from the drug trade in other areas. The increasing availability of heroin in Southern China means not only problems with drug addiction but also the spread of HIV/AIDS. 4. growing anti-Chinese sentiment. During the December demonstrations, it was reported that the Chinese business community in Rangoon made an appeal to the Chinese Embassy about the SLORC's use of Chinese tanks and weapons to stop the student demonstrations. Supposedly, Burmese in Rangoon voiced their anger at the Chinese about supplying the SLORC with these weapons. Also, there was supposedly an incident at a downtown shopping center where a Chinese-made new car was pelted with stones by an angry mob. The Chinese community is worried about a repeat of the anti-Chinese riots in the 60s and sees the SLORC as partly responsible for creating bad will toward the Chinese. The Chinese government is aware of the fact that the vast majority of the people of Burma do not support the SLORC. As the SLORC's major supplier of weapons and the SLORC's most ardent public defender, the Chinese government is in a position to exert influence over the SLORC. Given continued instability in Burma, how will China use its influence in the future? ************************************ THE NATION: CHINS FEEL THE PINCH AS BURMA, INDIA May 2, 1997 Aung Zaw The small ethnic group fears it may be next in line for a Rangoon offensive, Aung Zaw writes. Shortly after Indian army chief Gen Shankar Roychowdhury visited Rangoon in March to meet Burma's top military leaders Chin rebels based along the border with India began preparing for a major offensive against their jungle camps. "I think they [Burmese military] are going to attack all our camps before the rainy season," said Sui Khur, a spokesman for the Chin National Front [CNF]. The Chin have been under pressure since last year when rebels based in India's Mizoran state came under attack from the local police and army forces following the launch of "Golden Bird" operation. In January about 150 Indian soldiers from the 19th Assam rifle attacked one of the CNF camps. The CNF did not resist and deserted the camp without a fight. The soldiers then burned down all houses in the camp. "At the moment, the Indian army is very hostile," the Chin rebel leader said, adding that Indian officials were also allowing their Burmese counterparts to enter Indian territory as far as 25 kilometers in pursuit of Chin rebels. India's warming relations with Burma are a response to fears in New Delhi over the growing ties between Chin and Burma. China is Burma's a main arms supplier and is believed to be seeking access to various sea installations off Burma's coast. Once a supporter of the pro-democracy opposition in Burma, India now has changed tack and is siding with the regime. It has sent several delegations including business missions to Burma in the last six months. The Burmese junta, officially known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council [Slorc], has also been lobbying Bangladesh government to cooperate in its counter-insurgency campaign against the Chins. Sui Khar said he believes that "sweet relations" have been restored between Burma and Bangladesh. Bangladesh's Sonali Bank has opened a branch office in Rangoon and Dhaka has told Burmese dissidents operating in the country to leave. But so far no drastic action has been taken place. Chins on the western border tell the same tales of human rights abuses, forced labour, and poor health conditions as the Karen, Mon and Shan people on the eastern border. Approximately, 40,000 Chin refugees and migrant workers are in Mizoran state. "Pressure is mounting but we are surviving," says the Chin rebel. Set up in 1980s the CNF, with 300 men under arms, is led today by Thomas Tang No. The rebel has responded to the situation by launching urban guerrilla attacks against Burmese soldiers in major cities in the area. Last year the CNF planted bombs at army officers' houses and intelligence offices in Falam, Haka, and Htantalang. Now the CNF has a new target: bars in Chin state. "The local army officers have been encouraging Chins to open bars everywhere. This is how they intend to destroy our youth," says Sui Khar. Chin youths in Haka, Matupi, Htantalang, Falam and other Chin cities are becoming addicted to alcohol, he said. "This is one of Slorc tactics - they have done similar evils in some areas including Shan state and even in Rangoon," accused Sui Khar. "The only difference is that here it is alcohol not heroin," he said. Local Chins also complain that local Slorc officers are trying to encourage young Chin women to work in bars. "Chin parents are upset. The Chin people asked us to help shut down all the bars", Sui Khar said. The CNF has responded by warning bar owners to shut down their operations. Those who don't face the risk of being bombed. The CNF has already bombed bars in Htantalang, Haka and Matupi. "We have no intention to harm people so we detonate bombs at midnight after the bars are closed," Sui Khar said. A curfew has been imposed in many Chin towns accompanied by an order to shoot whoever is on the streets after 9:00pm. (TN) ******************************************************* THE NATION: HEROIN SPILLS OVER INTO INDIAN FRONTIER May 2, 1997 Rupa Chinai and Rahul Goswami Youth in border states are threatened by rising HIV infection, drugs and alcohol abuse, Pano's Rupa Chinai and Rahul Goswami report from Kohima, India. The expanding heroin trade in Southeast Asia's "Golden Triangle" - the world's largest source of illicitly grown pure heroin - is bringing with it a wave of new HIV/Aids infections in Burma and a remote corner of India. Bordering Burma are three northeastern Indian states - Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland. Sometimes racked by insurgency and girded by the Himalayan mountains, these states are among the poorest in India and, for the most part, closed to foreigners for security reasons. But not to the opium trade evidently. On both sides of the border, opium and heroin addiction is destroying tribal populations, while contributing to an alarming rise in HIV infection and Aids. Underdevelopment in Burma in particular is fuelling an opium-driven economy, which depends not only on opium cultivation but also its use as a means of barter. In India's northeastern states large sections of the youth are now threatened by a rising HIV infection, drug and alcohol abuse and order chronic killers such as malaria and tuberculosis. "Millions of migrants are pouring out of [Burma] into China, India and Thailand, carrying HIV with them," says the UN International Narcotics Control Board's 1997 report. In Burma, needle sharing, a proliferation of brothels, lack of public awareness campaigns and a weak public health infrastructure have contributed to an explosion in the number of HIV-positive cases. The UN reports that 60-70 per cent of intravenous drug users in Burma are HIV-positive. Burma-wide HIV figures cited by the US' Bureau of the Census are equally disturbing. Surveillance at 20 sites in 1995 found infection rates of 18.2 per cent among prostitutes, 10 per cent among patients of sexually transmitted diseases and 55.2 per cent among injecting drug users. The World Health Organisation believes there are 500,000 heroin addicts in Burma - or one per cent of its population. Over the Indian border in Manipur, rates of HIV infection among intravenous drug users jumped from zero in 1988 to nearly 70 per cent in 1992, according to the US Census Bureau. Infection rates in the region are among the highest in India. "We know there is a lot of movement [of heroin]," KN Singh, a police officer in the border town of Moreh, said. "About 1,000 people come and go every day. There are searches but we hardly ever find anything - when we do, its through tip-offs from sources. Many people are involved. Last year a senior police officer was arrested and imprisoned for trade in marijuana," he added. Today's heroin trade follows old opium routes of the British colonial era and takes advantage of porous borders. In Mon, a Nagaland border district, large groups of Burmese youth, walking for days, recently arrived as refugees fleeing poverty in Burma. Many brought opium with them. "This is the only medicine we have," said one refugee. Another teenage refugee said she had walked 18 days through north-west Burma to reach Mon. She spoke of villages heavily affected by tuberculosis, with no local primary health care and where every family grows opium. A report by a Burma-based NGO and smuggled out of the country corroborates the account. It documents widespread opium cultivation and addiction in virtually every village in the Chin province of northern Burma, bordering India. In Hpa Kant in Kachin State - famous for its jade - about 50 per cent of the youth are throught to be addicts. While several UN agencies have been conducting Aids awareness and prevention programme for many years in Burma, there appear to be constraints affecting health projects in the northern provinces. These have been waging an insurgency against Rangoon and the authorities are wary of any community activity. In 1994, a US public health expert reported that Burma did not allow regional programmes to warn people in Kachin and Shan states about Aids. Community-based organisations are not allowed to exist and ethnic-or Burmese-language materials are banned. Reports from the Indian Intelligence Bureau, the Indian Army, the Konyak Mother's Association and refugees interviewed for this article suggest little has changed. "There are no roads, no schools, no medicines, no doctors, no communications in the villages on the other side," say the Rev Yamyap Konyak of the Baptist Church in Mon. The recent opening of a trading post with Burma facilitates the trade. And the border is so open, anyone can walk through with a headload. For Nagaland and Manipur, the combination of HIV and drug abuse in having devastating consequences, especially for the youth. In 1996, 28 young people died from drug abuse in Mon town alone, according to Father Joe, who works at a drug rehabilitation clinic there. He says he doesn't know how many have HIV, because there are no testing facilities. (TN) ******************************************************* BKK POST: WA ARMY RELOCATES DRUG BASES May 2, 1997 Supamart Kasem, Tak The United Wa State Army has relocated its drug production bases from Shan State opposite Chiang Rai to Karen State opposite Tak. PM's Office Minister Veerakorn Kamprakob, who oversees the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said the seven or eight factories were able to produce millions of amphetamine tablets a month. The bases are said to have moved from two villages opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district to opposite Tak's Mae Sot district. On Wednesday, Mr Veerakorn asked the Burmese authorities, at a meeting with the Local Thai-Burmese Border Committee chairman Lt-Col Saing Phone in Myawaddy, to deal with the problem. Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh will talk with Burmese leader Gen Than Shwe about the problem during his forthcoming visit to Burma, the PM's Office minister added. The ONCB will set up a narcotics control centre in every province and cooperate with the Police Department's Scientific Crime Office to coordinate drugs suppression at provincial level, he added. In another development, a couple were arrested in Mae Sot district on Wednesday for allegedly possessing heroin with intent to sell. Police seized Charnyudh Sooksomsong, 38, and Farida Hua-insiwan, 29. They allegedly found 885 grammes of heroin worth more than 170,000 baht during a raid on a house on the Mae Sot-Mae Tao highway. On Tuesday, four H'mong men were arrested by Mae Sot police at Ban Chedi To on the Mae Sot-Umphang highway for allegedly possessing 904 grammes of heroin. (BP) ******************************************************* FBC PRESS RELEASE: NORTHWEST DROPS HEROIN HOTEL May 2, 1997 From: "W. Kesavatana-Dohrs" F R E E B U R M A C O A L I T I O N zni@students.wisc.edu http://FreeBurma.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NORTHWEST AIRLINES DROPS "HEROIN HOTEL" PROMOTION Minneapolis, May 2, 1997-- Northwest Airlines has ended a controversial promotion which offered bonus miles to frequent flyers who stayed at the Traders Hotel in Rangoon, Burma. According to company documents and press reports, the Traders is part-owned by Lo Hsing Han, once known as "King of the Golden Triangle," and now identified by the State Department as a "narco-trafficker." Lo's son and business partner in the Traders Hotel, Steven Law, is barred from the US due to suspected involvement in the drug trade. Burma produces and exports the majority of the world's heroin, and the State Department reports that more than 60% of the heroin seized in the US comes from Burma. An April 29 letter from Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, which manages Traders, says "Our office received notification the Traders Hotel, Yangon (Rangoon) has been withdrawn from Northwest Worldperks Frequent Flyer Program on April 14, 1997." Northwest's decision was hailed by opponents of Burma's military regime. "We respect Northwest's recognition that US companies ought not to promote businesses owned by known narcotics traffickers," says Dr. Sein Win of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), Burma's democratic government in exile. Burma (also called Myanmar) is increasingly identified as a "narco-dictatorship." US Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Affairs, Robert Gelbard, said on Feb. 28, 1997 "Drug money is so pervasive in the Burmese economy that it taints legitimate investment. Since 1988, some 15 percent of foreign investment in Burma and over half of that from Singapore has been tied to the family of narco-trafficker, Lo Hsing Han." Wente Vineyards of California severed a relationship with Lo's company last Fall under pressure from activists. Oil company Unocal is facing a shareholder resolution seeking an investigation into drug money-laundering allegations against its Burmese military partner in a pipeline project. "In military-ruled Burma, drug money is taking over. We are likely to see more and more controversy over investments tied to people who poison the world with heroin," says the NCGUB's Win. President Clinton announced a ban on new US investment in Burma April 22, saying Under this brutal military regime, Burma remains the world's leading producer of opium and heroin, and tolerates drug trafficking and traffickers in defiance of the views of the international community." The Shangri-La/Traders web site (www.shangri-la.com/Shangri-La/Dir.html) now notes that the Northwest promotion has been terminated. According to the web site, United Airlines and Canada Airways also provide frequent flier miles for a stay at any of their hotel properties, including the Traders Rangoon. In related news, Qantas-owned tour operator Jetabout, which last year took 41,500 visitors to Asia, has dropped Burma entirely from its itineraries, saying the country's image does not provide "the right climate for holiday travel and investment." Contact: National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, 202-393-7342 Larry Dohrs, Free Burma Coalition, 206-784-5742 Roberta Barry, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, 310-665-2000 ************************************************ THE NATION: BURMESE STUDENTS SLAM OIL FIRMS' COMPLICITY WITH SLORC May 2, 1997 [abridged] Rita Patiyasevi, The Nation Scores of Thai and Burmese students yesterday protested against human rights abuses in Burma and condemned three international oil companies for allegedly encouraging the continued use of forced labour through their investment in the country. In observing international Labour Day, students brandished placards and posters outside the Burmese Embassy on South Sathorn Road calling on the American oil company Unocal, the French company Total and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) to recognise the workers' suffering and hardship and terminate their operations in Burma. "May Day is international Labour Day. But the conditions of the workers in Burma are worse than before the concept of May Day, " one activists declared. Four student groups were involved - the All Burma Basic Education Students Union, the Overseas National Students Organisation of Burma, the Student Federation of Thailand and the Action for Social Students group at Ramkhamhaeng University. They roundly condemned the ruling Burmese junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), for neglecting workers' rights and accused the oil companies of dealing illicitly with an unlawful government, ruling without the consent of the Burmese people. "All these natural gas plans give power to the military regime to suck more blood from the people and take further advantage of the Burmese people," they said in a prepared statement. Forced and unpaid labour, equivalent to slavery, was being used to lay gas pipeline. Ethnic women were also being abused and used as sex workers. Aung Myo Min, an activist, said workers in Burma had no labour rights under Slorc. "We want the international community to help stop the practice of forced labour and we particularly call upon Unocal, Total and PTT to stop the practice. They do not care about human rights, only about petro-dollars," he said. The activist said the students of the Burmese pro-democracy movement were encouraged by the United States' announcement of economic sanctions against the ruling junta and forwarded a congratulatory letter to President Bill Clinton last week. "We think Asean should delay its decision to admit Burma into the organisation and should take a wait-and-see approach," Aung Myo Min said. It was too soon to admit Burma this year. He said student activists and pro-democracy movement groups planned to launch a protest campaign in various Asean capitals next week seeking to delay Rangoon's admission to the regional grouping. "The supporters of the pro-democracy movement will begin a series of protests against Slorc and call on Asean countries to review their decision in admitting Burma to the organisation this year," he said. [passage on Than Shwe's May Day message in Burma omitted] ******************************************************* REUTERS: KNU SOFTENS UNDER PRESSURE FROM US May 1, 1997 By Sutin Wannabovorn BANGKOK, May 1 (Reuter) - Burma's Karen guerrillas have halted plans to destroy a controversial Thai-Burma gas pipeline and are willing to talk with Rangoon's military leaders, rebel and Thai security sources said on Thursday. General Bo Mya, hardline leader of the Karen National Union (KNU), had softened his position towards Burma's military rulers and was willing to sit down to talks soon, the sources said. A Thai security source who has been dealing with the rebels on the Thai-Burma border said Bo Mya had agreed to halt a plan to destroy the Thai-Burma pipeline, now under construction. "He agreed to take his hands out of the pipeline project because of pressure from his own comrades and also from us," the Thai security source said. A KNU source said the organisation would not damage the $1.2 billion pipeline, but said the rebels wanted assurances from Burma on the future of Karen people living nearby. "Ner Dah (a son of Bo Mya) has already said that KNU will not disrupt the plan to build the pipeline," another KNU source said. A 260-km (160-mile) section of the pipeline will move gas from offshore Burma into Thailand. Work began in early April near the northwestern border province of Kanchanaburi. The project is run by a consortium including the U.S. firm Unocal Corp, France's Total SA TOTF.PA , Burma's state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand's (PTT) investment arm, PTT Exploration and Production Plc PTTE.BK . The Thai source said some moderate officials of the KNU had put strong pressure on Bo Mya to ease up and hold peace talks with Burma's State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). "Bo Mya has no choice now but to soften his stance and talk with SLORC, as far as I know the talks will take place in the near future," he said. The SLORC and KNU officials have held several rounds of peace talks but failed to reach any agreement. A KNU source said Bo Mya and other top rebel leaders met a SLORC representative at a Thai border town on April 27 to dicuss the resumption of peace negotiations. The KNU is the last major rebel group still fighting against Rangoon. Fifteen other ethnic groups have signed ceasefire deals with the SLORC since it seized power in 1988. ****************************************** BKK POST: RELAXED DEADLINES DISCUSSED FOR NEW RECRUITS May 2, 1997 Achara Ashayagachat, Kuala Lumpur Tariff cuts could be delayed until 2009 Burma, Cambodia and Laos may be given until 2009 to reduce tariffs under the Association of Southeast Asian Nation's free trade agreement. The three countries are expected to be admitted to Asean this year, bringing the size of the group to 10 countries. Because their economies are not as advanced as those of the other members, the three plan to ask for a grace period similar to the one accorded Vietnam when it joined, said Dr Chee Peng Lim, director of the Asean Secretariat's Economic Cooperation Bureau. Dr Chee spoke at a recent seminar entitled Globalisation and Free Trade: Implications for Asean. Vietnam was given three years longer than the other six members to comply with the Asean Free Trade Area's (Afta) Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) regulations. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand plan to adhere fully to the Afta by 2003 when tariff rates on 15 product lines traded within the group will be lowered to 0-5%. Leaders of those six nations have committed to try to speed up the process further and reach that goal by 2000. Vietnam, which joined in July 1995, three years after Afta was initiated, still remains committed to achieving its tariff rate cuts by 2006. Of the three prospective members, Asean members are most worried about Cambodia where violence and political instability threaten to engulf the country. A March 30 grenade attack on an opposition march prompted concerns around the globe. Dr Chee said Cambodia would also have the most difficulty meeting the Afta requirements, noting that import duties accounted for 60% of Cambodia's total revenue. "Sacrificing their big pot will not be easy for Cambodia. That is not the case in Burma and Laos as their reliance on revenue from import tariffs is not as high," he said. He said Cambodia and Laos were also hampered by a shortage of English-speaking government officials. Burma, on the other hand, had the capacity to achieve the Afta targets more quickly once it was admitted. An expanded Asean would allow for greater leverage in taking joint approaches to various regional and international economic issues, Dr Chee said, but warned that regional economic cooperation might not be sustainable unless common policies or approaches in critical areas were committed to under a legislature structure. (BP) ******************************************************* BKK POST: US SANCTIONS MUST NOT CLOUD THE ISSUE May 2, 1997 Editorial Asean might rightly be irked at growing international concern at the prospect of the admission of the military regime in Rangoon. In making what will be a momentous decision, it needs to focus on the real issue - and that is the aspirations of a population that conflict with those of the military rulers. In reacting to the United States sanctions against Burma, Asean leaders have shown no one likes to be told what to do, particularly in their own neck of the woods. The reaction is perfectly natural but it is important not to lose sight of the central issue is interference. Some Asean leaders have jumped at the chance to tell Washington to mind its own business and stop interfering in regional affairs. But Asean must accept that despite its protestations to the contrary, it is interfering in the affairs of Burma itself. In pandering to the State Law and Order Restoration Council, Asean is defying the wishes of the more than 95 percent of Burmese who voted the dictators out of office in the 1990 general election. But given strong statements of support from some Asean leaders, the admission of Slorc along with Cambodia and Laos might seem a forgone conclusion. What will Asean, or more particularly Thailand, gain if the three are admitted this year? For some members, the answer is a lot, and it is no coincidence that those who express fervent support for Slorc enjoy cosy, high-level deals with it. Thailand is the only Asean country that has anything- perhaps a lot to lose. It shares borders with all three countries. It is the only country to neighbour Burma and the demarcation of borders has never been settled. There have been disputes in the past with both mind. In terms of Cambodia, which is showing disturbing signs of deterioration, border disputes with Vietnam cannot be ruled out. But it is the border with Burma that continues to see incessant violations by Slorc forces and their proxies. At present, Thailand is free to deal with neighbours according to its own interests and policies. We run the risk of tying our own hands if the three are admitted. Slorc has been particularly recalcitrant and capricious on border issues. At present, Slorc has few friends in the international community but it could seek to exploit the good offices of Asean to solicit support among certain members for its claims to border territory. It could call for fact-finding missions or mediation, complicating and delaying a resolution of the disputes. Both Burma and Cambodia are in the throes of power struggles. What if Cambodia split into two camps? Which side will Asean take? Which side will Thailand support? Burma has no constitution and no rule of law and a powerful faction in the army is trenchantly opposed to Asean membership. What if this group gains the upper hand and cynically abuses membership before pulling out? Should Asean take the risk? If Asean parrots Slorc's assertion that it must remain at the helm because of continued instability, we should recognise this for the falsehood that it is. Burma will never achieve stability under Slorc, which needs the absence of law and order to justify its continued misrule. At the only country whose national security is at risk, Thailand must realise the serious challenges that lie ahead. It is essential to look beyond narrow interests to what is an important foreign policy issue. Because of the vision and diplomacy of its leaders in the last century, Siam was the only country in the region not to fall under colonial rule. Now, at the end of another century, we must think seriously before entering into disavantageous and possibly humiliating relationships with unstable neighbours. Do the leaders today have the vision and integrity of those whose skills kept Siam free? There is no harm in waiting until our neighbours are truly ready and then to welcome them with open arms. (BP) ******************************************************* FEER: SANCTIONING BURMA May 8, 1997 Editorial Stick with engagement Of the many arguments against economic sanctions, the one that we have always found the most persuasive is the simplest: They don't work. The threat of sanctions, of course, has worked to squeeze concessions out of countries desperate for business, but in this they represent the economic equivalent of Mutual Assured Destruction. In other words, sanctions work only as a bluff. Once invoked, everyone loses. Burma is its own best argument against isolationism. This southeast Asian nation, one of the jewels of the region at its independence, managed to reduce itself to a third-world basket case through a self-imposed policy of closed-door self-sufficiency that ultimately spawned the current State Law and Order Restoration Council. Nor is Burma alone here. Of the nasty regimes throughout the world, surely the nastiest have been those cut off from everyone else - North Korea, Cuba, Albania, China during the Cultural Revolution, Vietnam. Throughout this period sanctions imposed by Washington made not a dent in their respective human rights practices and arguably made a bad situation worse by denying their citizens the slave of opportunity. Even in a place like Iraq, soundly defected by the Americans in the 1991 Gulf War, sanctions have failed to temper its atrocious rights practices or its nuclear ambitions. The sanctions announced by Madeleine Albright carry even less credibility. For one thing, they are so clearly half-hearted, applying only to new investment. Even worse, the effect of imposing sanctions on a small fish like Burma while letting the much bigger Chinese fish off the hook is not to advance the cause of human rights in the former but to discredit U.S. policy towards the latter. Not that we think Asean's uncritical embrace of Burma is the necessary conclusion. While there are excellent arguments for a policy of "constructive engagement," Asean's eagerness to take this tar-baby straight to the altar raises its own questions. Last year's admission of Vietnam to the Asean family, for example, has already created new pressures in the group's relations with neighboring China. The pressures to incorporate Burma so soon afterwards are more emotional than strategic. By all means, trade with Burma. But don't marry it. (FEER) ********************************************** BKK POST: THAILAND EYES BURMESE PORTS May 2, 1997 Nussara Sawatsawang, Ratchaburi Plan to develop west cuts time, expense for Europe-bound goods Thailand is considering using a Burmese port on the Andaman Sea as an alternative route for Thai goods being shipped to markets in Europe, Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Korn Dabbaransi said. The ministry is looking at two Burmese ports - Tavoy and Bokpyin - and the island of Kawtaung as part of a study due for completion by the end of this year, Mr Korn told a seminar organised by the Ratchaburi Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. Thailand's choice will depend on economic viability and related infrastructure requirements, he said. Burmese authorities had responded positively to the idea and expressed "readiness" to develop the port which Thailand chose, he said. Mr Korn will have further talks with his Burmese counterpart later this year. Currently, 75 percent of Thailand's Europe-bound goods go through the Malacca Strait. Shipping the goods through the Andaman Sea would save time cost, he said. The search for an outlet to the Andaman Sea follows a Thai government decision to promote social and economic development in six provinces on the West Seaboard: Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Samut Song Khram, Petchaburi, Prachuab Khiri Khan and Chumphon. Mr Korn said Tavoy was accessible through either Kanchanaburi or Ratchaburi. Bokpyin is opposite Prachuab Khiri Khan's Bang Saphang district while Chumphon can link with Burma's Kawtaung, or Victoria Point, through Marang town over the Kra River. Two leading Thai firms have already begun looking for outlets in Burma. Sahaviriya, which has a steel industry complex and a deep sea port in Bang Sphang, recently signed a deal with thr Burmese government to conduct a study for a landbridge to Bokpyin. Ital-Thai Development Plc also plans to build a deep-sea port in Tavoy. Meanwhile, Supoj Phothongkham, Ratchaburi's vice governor, called on the government to build new roads and promote Suan Phung district as a special investment from Mergui. "We oppose the idea to have only one route from Kanchanaburi [to Tavoy], which will have Ratchaburi deserted," he said. (BP) *******************************************************