BurmaNet News: February 3, 2001

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______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
         February 3, 2001   Issue # 1726
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

NOTED IN PASSING:  ?As there is weakness in distributing objective news 
about Myanmar to the world, the false news reports of the western media 
are flooding the world.?  

Khin Nyunt.  See Xinhua: Myanmar Leader Calls for Extending News 
Telecasting

INSIDE BURMA _______
*The Independent (UK): After decades of isolation, Burma prepares to 
step into the unknown 
*DVB: Veteran Burmese politician on Rangoon, National League for 
Democracy talks 
*Xinhua: Myanmar Leader Calls for Extending News Telecasting
*Irrawaddy: OSS Eager to Show New Face of Myanmar

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Bangkok Post: Burma being urged to end import ban
*Irrawaddy: NCUB Rejects NCGUB Transitional Plan

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Clean Clothes Campaign [Netherlands]: Bras Burn as Triumph Does 
Business in Burma!
*Xinhua: Chinese Company Starts Building Dry-Dock for Myanmar

	


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________



The Independent (UK): After decades of isolation, Burma prepares to step 
into the unknown 

In Foreign Parts: A new dawn comes up on the long and deceptive road 
past Mandalay 

By Calum MacLeod in Rangoon 

3 February 2001 

As pariah nations go, Burma rather disappoints. My first acquaintance 
with North Korea, its fellow outcast, had excited an almost reassuring 
terror. 

Pyongyang delivers George Orwell's 1984 nightmare of authoritarian 
madness, a grey and regimented society watched by an all-knowing, 
all-seeing Big Brother. Rangoon also boasts massive monuments to an 
all-powerful being, but Buddha's shrines are much nicer than those to 
Kim Il Sung. From the barefoot monks gathering alms to the fading 
grandeur of colonial mansions, the Burmese capital lulls visitors with 
the languid charms of South-east Asia. 

Given the brutal reputation of its ruling junta, there is a 
disconcerting lack of guns and uniforms in the streets. Burmese, clad 
almost to a man in traditional longyi sarongs, are keen to engage 
foreign travellers and quick to list the achievements from Britain's 
many years in charge ? roads, railways and schools. But what of today's 
regime? 

"Government spies are everywhere," whisper my newfound friends, quickly 
steering the conversation to safer ground such as the British football 
that dominates Saturday night screens. "Did you see our 'Oscars'?" asks 
a taxi driver, his tongue loosened by Mandalay rum. The Burmese film 
world had just gathered for its annual back-slap. "Every winner thanked 
the military." He spits in disgust. "But they don't thank from their 
hearts." 

The lies perfected by Burma's acting profession are repeated 
countrywide. Most families harbour bitter grievances, but the choice is 
clear ? bare your heart and go to jail, or learn to live with the junta. 
Than, a tour guide in Rangoon, was reading philosophy when the 
government shut all universities in 1996 to teach the students a lesson. 
Like his classmates, Than had voted in 1990 for the democratic coalition 
of Aung San Suu Kyi, and watched in despair as the regime ignored her 
landslide victory. "It has been an illusion since then," he says. "Now 
we can't trust anything the government says." The universities 
eventually reopened, transplanted to distant suburbs to dampen thoughts 
of protest, and Than got his degree. 

Like many Burmese in the service sector, Than resents Suu Kyi's 
high-minded call on foreigners to boycott her nation until the election 
results are respected. "We need evolution not revolution," he says. "The 
more people who come, the better. We need foreign investment and foreign 
technology. We want to swim in the ocean again." 

After decades of selfimposed isolation, the government says it is ready 
to take the plunge. "I hope the international community will not force 
us into a corner," said the Foreign Minister, U Win, in December. "We 
can stay in the corner, but we don't want to." Burma's Asian neighbours 
are prepared to embrace their awkward cousin, while the West demands 
improvements to its atrocious human rights record. 

Hopes have been raised by the generals who run Burma holding secret 
talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, the embattled torchbearer for democracy, 
confined to her house or city limits since 1990. A European delegation 
met her this week, after the visit in January of a UN envoy. Like 
Tibet's Dalai Lama, a fellow Nobel Peace Laureate, she remains a potent 
symbol of an oppressed people, yet "The Lady" is hardly the regime's 
only concern. 

Bernard Pe-Win, a British businessman born in Burma, says: "The only way 
to change the situation in this country is by engaging it." His Forum 
club in Rangoon is a talking-shop for the city's small expatriate 
community. "The military government is not as good as we would want them 
to be, but they are a far cry from how they have been painted." He says 
the West has little leverage to bring down the military government, 
because resource-rich Burma can feed itself, and most other essentials 
slip across the 1,362-mile border with China. 

Some observers believe the international focus on Ms Suu Kyi serves the 
government's aims, by denying support and negotiating space to Burma's 
restless minority groups, victims of the worst human rights abuses. A 
British oil executive in Rangoon says: "This place could be like the 
Balkans." Burma's borderlands are home to rebel insurgents, drug 
traffickers and a confusion of ethnic and religious agendas. 

"I take trouble to hire Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and animists, and 
they work well together. But left to themselves, they would just hire 
their own kind. The 'do-gooders' call for democracy, but where will they 
be when the trouble starts?" 



___________________________________________________



DVB: Veteran Burmese politician on Rangoon, National League for 
Democracy talks 


A Burmese veteran politician, Thakin Thein Pe, has given an interview to 
opposition radio, Democratic Voice of Burma, on the progress of the 
current peace talks between State Peace and Development Council and the 
National League for Democracy (NLD). Thakin Thein Pe said he thought 
that the release from prison of NLD members showed that some progress 
had been made and the arrival of an EU delegation would lead to further 
success. However, he feared that the talks would disregard the NLD 
victory at the May 1990 election. The following is the text of report by 
Burmese opposition radio on 26 January

The SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] has released NLD 
[National League for Democracy] Vice-Chairman U Tin Oo from Yemon 
cantonment camp as well as all the NLD members arrested from Rangoon 
central railway station yesterday. Although some say the release shows 
progress in SPDC-Daw Aung San Suu Kyi talks there are some who are still 
adopting a wait-and-see attitude. Veteran Burmese politicians led by 
Bohmu Aung, a member of the 30 Burmese Comrades who fought for Burma's 
independence, have constantly urged for a dialogue between the SPDC and 
NLD. DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] interviewed veteran politician 
Thakin [Burmese title meaning master] Thein Pe, one of the veteran 
politicians who have persistently urged for a dialogue between the SPDC 
and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Ko Moe Aye conducted the interview.

[Ko Moe Aye] As far as we know U Tin Oo has been sent back to his home 
from Yemon cantonment camp yesterday. Furthermore all the NLD members 
arrested at Rangoon central railway station were also released. What is 
your view on that?
[Thakin Thein Pe] We think the release shows gradual progress in the 
talks. We feel the situation will improve further when the EU delegation 
arrives. Another thing for consideration is the UN will be holding its 
meeting in March so we think things will be wrapped up by then.

[Ko Moe Aye] What we want to know is do you all hope to see a quick and 
smooth result emerging from the outcome of the talks between Daw Aung 
San Suu Kyi and the SPDC?

[Thakin Thein Pe] Well, for a quick result, the best thing is according 
to the Thuwanna Tharma story [from Buddhist teachings]. All concerned 
should talk openly with honesty and asseverate the truth, then we shall 
all see the result which we hope for. We believe if they say the truth 
and discuss it then there will be success and real progress. What we see 
now is that since the people from the outside do not know what is really 
happening they seem to be very anxious. They think this will also be 
prolonged like the former meetings.

[Ko Moe Aye] Then, is there anything that you are also worried and 
concerned about?
[Thakin Thein Pe] The one thing we ask is the convening of parliament. 
Well, they might not convene it but it might be done in a different way 
[sentence as received]. We are worried about that because it might 
differ from what the world has come to accept now. Gen Saw Maung [late 
chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council] held the 
election. He said it very distinctly in his speech, a very good speech, 
that the Defence Services will hold the election. He said that he will 
form a government with the election winners and they themselves will 
return to the military barracks. Well, to disregard this election and to 
do another one similar will not be right. It will mean total disregard 
to the one that organized it. That election was recognized by the UN and 
everyone in Burma understood that it was free and fair. They all know 
that. That is why we ask for the convening of the people's assembly. 
Only that assembly will be the people's assembly. As I mentioned before, 
that assembly will have the right to promulgate the amnesty law, the 
constitution and to hold future elections. We all have that desire and 
we feel that is perfectly legal.

[Ko Moe Aye] What you are afraid of is that they might disregard the May 
1990 election result and continue discussing other topics. Do you mean 
that?
[Thakin Thein Pe] The election was done legally and Gen Saw Maung 
himself claimed that it was also free and fair. Furthermore, he also 
said he will transfer power. But when the time came power was not 
transferred. The UN also said Burma's election was free and fair. We 
need to ask why the parliament elected by the people was not recognized? 
Why do they want to hold a new election? If they really want [to convene 
an assembly] please do it with the original election result. What needs 
to be discussed is that a new election will be held soon. The reason is 
if they hold an election now, they will have to write a new 
constitution. Moreover, if the election is held only for a constituent 
assembly then I wonder how long will it take for a legal government to 
emerge. We are worried about that too. 

[Ko Moe Aye] Some are saying that although the SPDC and Daw Suu are 
holding secret talks, nothing is known and they do not know what stage 
the talks are in. What is your opinion?
[Thakin Thein Pe] We are also not satisfied with today's uncertain 
situation. There are so many diverse comments that we are afraid we 
might even become crazy and might not know what really happen. What we 
wish to happen is to reconcile and to recognize the election where the 
people have given their mandate, to recognize the 1947 constitution and 
to append and amend that constitution as needed. As soon as these are 
done then grant general amnesty. The country will then be reconciled and 
the situation will return to normal. After that hold new elections and 
we believe the country will be revitalized.

[Ko Moe Aye] Another thing. The SPDC has said that they will not be 
publishing any slanderous articles and writings against Daw Aung San Suu 
Kyi in the SPDC newspapers. This shows their softening stance and some 
NLD members agreed. What is your opinion on that?

[Thakin Thein Pe] What we think is there is progress but we are unable 
to guess how the final result is going to be. Everyone should do his 
duty. Our chairman Bohmu Aung said Daw Suu is Gen Aung San's daughter 
and the army is Gen Aung San's sons so there is no need for brothers and 
sister to fight. He also said if the people wearing trousers [military 
personnel] want to do politics - the politics they are doing right now 
is not appropriate - and if they want to become politicians they should 
get rid of the trousers and wear a longyi [sarong - become civilians] 
instead. We would also like to add our suggestions, if they want to 
engage in discipline-flourishing democracy they should declare a 
discipline-flourishing democracy party and enter the election. Other 
interested people should also get the approval and enter the election as 
well. Then the real answer to democracy will emerge. Let me say that 
only.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 26 Jan 01 


___________________________________________________



Xinhua: Myanmar Leader Calls for Extending News Telecasting


YANGON, February 3 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar leader Lieutenant- General Khin 
Nyunt has called for extending news telecasting and broadcasting of 
other programs so as to widely carry the true and genuine news 
concerning Myanmar to the countries over the world. Khin Nyunt, first 
secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council, made the 
call here on Friday at a coordination meeting on extension of news 
telecasting and other programs of the state-run Myanmar Radio and 
Television, official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported 
Saturday. "As there is weakness in distributing objective news about 
Myanmar to the world, the false news reports of the western media are 
flooding the world," he charged.

 However, he said, the real news of Myanmar started to spread worldwide 
as internet users are on the increase ever than before, adding that 
tourists received the real news about Myanmar through the internet. He 
urged wider broadcasting of Myanmar domestic news with full essence and 
objectives. He also said the broadcasting of electronic facts on 
education, jointly sponsored by Myanmar's Ministry of Education and 
Ministry of Information, is successful, pointing out that these 
education programs have been received at learning centers in various 
parts of the country. He urged information officials to carry the tasks 
of extending news telecasting and broadcasting of other programs as a 
national duty. 

Myanmar is making efforts to promote the country's information sector, 
especially its radio and television services, in conformity with the 
global changes and development, arranging to upgrade its radio and TV 
machines and equipment by changing its present TV system to digital one. 
Radio Myanmar was established in early 1946 and color TV was introduced 
in June 1980. The TV Myanmar is now made available of transmission of 
satellite news with the cooperation of the Cable Network News (CNN) and 
the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK). Meanwhile, Myanmar has also 
started with internet E-mail services for the general public with 
initial users of only 2,500 and a plan is underway to extend the number 
of such users. 

___________________________________________________



Irrawaddy: OSS Eager to Show New Face of Myanmar

Issue of January 2001

Recently, high-ranking intelligence officers told foreign visitors that 
The New Light of Myanmar, Burma?s official mouthpiece publication, does 
not represent the policies of the Office of Strategic Studies (OSS) or 
the opinions of Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt. "If you want to know our position, 
look at our website or The Myanmar Times," the officer added.

Bewildered by the statement, analysts suggest that army and intelligence 
factions in Rangoon are at loggerheads over how to promote the junta?s 
image. The OSS is widely perceived as intelligence chief Khin Nyunt?s 
main power base within the regime. 

The Myanmar Times, launched in 1999, is believed to be backed by an OSS 
office headed by Khin Nyunt. Edited by Australian Ross Dunkley, the 
weekly paper is financed by Burmese businessman Pyone Maung Maung. The 
paper often displays Khin Nyunt and his close aides and family members 
attending dinner parties or hotel receptions. Army hardliners rarely 
appear in the newspaper.

Col Thein Swe, deputy head of the OSS and Khin Nyunt?s close aide, is 
believed to be behind the publication. Focussing mainly on soft news 
stories, it generally portrays the regime in a favorable light, without 
the vitriolic attacks on the opposition that are a staple of official 
publications.






___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				

Bangkok Post: Burma being urged to end import ban

Feb. 3, 2001

The government will be asked to negotiate with Rangoon a ban it placed 
on Thai goods.

Anan Laothammathat, chairman of the Chiang Rai Chamber of Commerce, said 
Burma's ban on 25 imported items had caused cross-border trade in 
several northern provinces to plummet.

Meanwhile, Chiang Rai governor Samroeng Punyopakorn blasted Burmese 
soldiers for arresting five Thai villagers on Wednesday.

They were caught while working in lychee plantations in the disputed 
Kotemayong mountain border area in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district.

All were released after 8,000 baht was paid to Burmese soldiers, which 
was later returned. Burma claims it suspected they were about to create 
unrest




___________________________________________________



Irrawaddy: NCUB Rejects NCGUB Transitional Plan

Issue of January 2001


The National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), in its meeting of 
Presidium and Secretariat members held in the second week of December 
2000, rejected a "transitional plan" drafted by the National Coalition 
Government of Union of Burma (NCGUB), according to reliable sources. It 
was unclear, however, why the NCUB?the self-styled parliamentary body of 
the NCGUB?declined to support the plan.

The NCGUB proposal, drafted by the Washington-based Burmese 
government-in-exile last January, is a sort of "road map" that lays out 
the specific steps to be followed to achieve democracy in Burma, 
including all-inclusive political dialogue, negotiations, compromises, 
and transition.

The NCGUB reportedly presented the plan at a high-powered meeting on 
Burma?s political deadlock in Seoul, South Korea last March. The Seoul 
meeting brought together Burma experts and delegations from interested 
governments in Asia and the West. "Many participants showed their 
interest in this plan, but no one promised that their country would 
adopt it," said a source close to the NCGUB. 

The confidential plan came under a barrage of criticism late last year 
when its contents were revealed through media reports and over the 
Internet. But some observers noted that most of the objections raised 
were directed at the source, rather than the substance, of the proposal. 
"The concerns of the critics are more to do with the political 
accountability of the NCGUB and whether the NCGUB went beyond its given 
mandate," suggested one independent analyst in exile. 

But some critics claimed that the plan was too compromising, and failed 
to assert the opposition National League for Democracy?s right to power 
based on its overwhelming electoral victory in 1990





_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 


Clean Clothes Campaign [Netherlands]: Bras Burn as Triumph Does Business 
in Burma!

Feb. 1, 2001

On January 19th the CCC had an action day on Triumph, to pressure them 
to withdraw from Burma. Triumph, the Swiss-based lingerie company, 
operated Myanmar Triumph International, Ltd., in Burma at the 
Pyin-Ma-Bin Industrial Estate. For more information on this case, please 
see the appeal circulated January 18th or visit the CCC website: 
www.cleanclothes.org. 
CCC campaigners took to the streets in Switzerland and the Netherlands 
to protest Triumph's support of Burma's military regime, demanding that 
Triumph pull out of Burma and that retailers put all Triumph orders on 
hold until the company withdraws from Burma.

In Triumph's home country of Switzerland, a street action in Lausanne 
and a newspaper advertisement in a German-language newspaper generated a 
storm of attention around this issue. Several TV stations covered the 
story, as did radio and print media. The Swiss CCC has learned that 
Triumph has hired a public relations specialist to handle this issue, 
and a representative from the Swiss campaign has been invited to 
participate in a radio debate with this PR person tomorrow. Meanwhile, 
email messages to be forwarded to Triumph from consumers have been 
pouring in. Please visit the Swiss campaign's website 
(www.cleanclothes.ch) to read about this action (in French and German) 
and to see the powerful image they are using in their campaign or to 
send a message to Triumph. 

In Amsterdam the Dutch CCC and the Burma Centrum Nederland organized a 
lively parade down the city's main shopping street, the Kalverstraat, 
ending up at Vroom & Dreesman, a major retailer in the Netherlands which 
sells Triumph products. Marching behind a banner that called on Triumph 
to "support breasts, not dictators" the group of activists, including a 
Samba band and people on stilts, distributed leaflets to the lunch-hour 
shopping crowds and then burned bras in protest of Triumph's support of 
the Burmese military regime. The parade made its way over to 
Hunkemoller, a lingerie chain which also sells Triumph bras, to burn a 
few more bras. Press attention of the event included a photo in Metro, a 
newspaper distributed in train stations all over the country. For more 
information on the Dutch action, visit the ccc website at:
http://www.cleanclothes.org/bedrijven/triumph.htm for information in 
Dutch or to participate in the campaign targetting Dutch retailers, or 
at http://www.cleanclothes.org/companies/triumph.htm for information on 
this case in English. 





___________________________________________________




Xinhua: Chinese Company Starts Building Dry-Dock for Myanmar

YANGON, February 2 (Xinhua) -- A ground-breaking ceremony was held here 
Friday to start building a 12,000-DWT (deadweight tons) dry-dock by a 
Chinese company for the Myanmar Ministry of Transport. The building of 
the dry-dock is to be started by the Shandong Agricultural Industry and 
Commerce Group Corporation (SAICGC) of China at the state-run Myanmar 
Shipyards in the capital under a contract reached between the Chinese 
company and the Myanmar ministry in October 1999. Under the contract, 
the 168-meter-long and 28-meter-wide dry- dock is scheduled to be 
completed within two years, according to the contract. The investment in 
the project is estimated at 1 billion Kyats ( about 167 million U.S. 
dollars), involving 25.45-million-dollar seller's credit. The existing 
Myanmar dock has reportedly only a capacity of 1, 000 DWT and an 
extension to at least 10,000 DWT of capacity is in urgent need. The 
dry-dock project is the first one in Myanmar contracted by Shandong 
province and it is expected that the project will greatly improve 
conditions of ship building, repairing and water transportation in the 
country. 






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