BurmaNet News: January 9 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

January 9 2003 Issue #2153

INSIDE BURMA

DVB: CRPP accepts new members

GUNS

Kyodo: 10 killed in clashes with Myanmar
DVB: KNU fighters clash with SPDC forces
KNU Dept. of Info: Additional report on clashes near U Pota
Irrawaddy: Fighting causes hundreds to flee

MONEY

Nation: Chiang Mai hub ‘needs work’

REGIONAL

Renmin Ribao: Myanmar a good friend, partner: China’s vice-president
DPA: Naga leaders seek out autonomy to end 50-years of insurgency in India

ON THE BORDER

Bangkok Post: Bordering on good times

EDITORIAL

SCMP: Why China and Myanmar are drawing closer

INSIDE BURMA

Democratic Voice of Burma January 8 2003

CRPP accepts new members

The CRPP held a regular meeting today and two applicants, a party and
independent MP were accepted as new members. During the meeting, Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi also explained her experiences in Arakan trip to other
members. The members also discussed and assessed the price hikes of
commodities and air, train and bus fares. U Aye Tha Aung, the Secretary of
the CRPP explained to the DVB as follows:
U Aye Tha Aung : It is the regular meeting. The main agenda was to accept
a new party, the Patriotic Veterans and an independent MP, U Thein Pe of
Kantbalu Township, Sagaing Division.
DVB : They are the people who were not accepted at the previous meeting?
U Aye Tha Aung : Yes.
DVB : Are there any new applicants?
U Aye Tha Aung : Yes, there is one group, the United Nationalities League
for Democracy (UNLD). It is a league made up of 21 ethnic nationality
groups. They have sent their application form.
DVB : When are you going to accept them?
U Aye Tha Aung : It will be discussed and decided in the coming meetings.
DVB : In this meeting, what did you manage to discuss?
U Aye Tha Aung : We discussed and assessed the current economical and
political situations. We discussed the quadruple price hikes of
commodities, air, train and bus fares and the like. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
also explained to other members about her experiences in Arakan State.
DVB : You mentioned the price hikes of air, train and bus fares. What is
the reason for that?
U Aye Tha Aung : The official excuse for the price hikes is given as the
higher value of the American dollar and the increasing price of fuel. That
is the indication that the prices of general goods will rise.
DVB : This is the first regular meeting of the CRPP in the year 2003? Did
you discuss what the CRPP would do in 2003?
U Aye Tha Aung : In 2003, the CRPP is intending to clearly and precisely
stand on its principles. We did not discuss about it.

GUNS

Kyodo News January 9 2003

10 killed in clashes in Myanmar

At least 10 people were killed as Myanmar soldiers launched an annual
dry-season offensive against the ethnic rebel Karen National Union (KNU)
based on the Thai border, a Thai military official said Wednesday.

The offensive began Tuesday night when Myanmar soldiers attacked a KNU
army camp in Mae-ookhoo opposite the Phop Phra district in Thailand's Tak
Province, about 500 kilometers northwest of Bangkok.
_______

Democratic Voice of Burma January 8 2003

KNU fighters clash with SPDC forces

It is reported that there have been continuous clashes between the
KNU fighters and the SPDC forces around Myawaddi Township on the
Thai-Burma border. As a result, local Karen villagers are also fleeing to
the border. DVB’s Maung Too reports:

MT: The clashes are occurring near Tak Province in the northwest of
Thailand and Myawaddy Township of Burma, according to the KNU’s
General Secretary of Phado Mahn Sha. He told the DVB that most of the
clashes are sporadic and a SPDC officer, a 2nd in command was killed.
There have been five clashes within two days between the
SPDC’s LIB 315 and the KNU’s Guerrilla Fighters Brigade 201. Two
Burmese strayed artillery shells landed on Thai territories but there have
been no reports of casualties. About 200 local Karen villagers have fled
into Thailand and the Thai authorities are also placing more armed forces
and tightening the border security.
________

Karen National Union Department of Information January 9 2003

Additional Report on Clashes near U Pota

At about 2 PM on 7-1- 2003, a clash took place for about an hour between
Karen KNLA Battalion 201 troops and a Burmese military column, consisting
of  troops from LIB 78, LIB 301 and LIB 317 under SPDC Tactical Command
883,  near U Pota village in Karen State, opposite Poppra District of Tak
Province, Thailand.

One company commander and one sergeant were killed and six wounded on the
SPDC side.  There was no casualty on the KNLA side. the Burmese troops
burned down 3 rice barns of the villagers .

Again  in the afternoon of 9-1-2003, a clash took place between the two
sides near Ler Hgaw village. In the clash, about 20 Burmese troops were
killed and wounded. The Burmese troops burned down two rice barns of the
villagers. A stray shell from the Burmese troops landing on the Thai side
of the border reportedly wounded a Thai villager.
_______

Irrawaddy January 9 2003

Fighting Causes Hundreds to Flee
By Aung Su Shin/Mae Sot

Nearly 500 ethnic Karen villagers from Burma have fled to Thailand over
the last two days, with more expected to come, as fighting between Burmese
troops and Karen National Union (KNU) battalions continues to spill over
into their village, according to Thai border security forces.

Residents of Lei Khaw Village in Burma began arriving in Thailand on
Tuesday afternoon and were continuing to enter Wednesday night as fighting
between the two groups persisted, according to the villagers. Lei Khaw is
located opposite Thailand’s Yaphaw Village, 80 kilometers south of Mae Sot
in Tak Province.
Three hundred and seventy four Karen villagers have sought temporary
shelter at Wat Yaphaw in Thailand’s Phop Phra District. Thai Army Col
Jirasak Chomprasop, commander of Task force 23, and aid workers from the
UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Burma Border Consortium
(BBC) met with the group Tuesday night and provided them with emergency
assistance.

"The refugees have requested to be allowed to stay here for five days,"
Nai Charoen Boonpuak, chairman of the Yaphaw Village administration
committee, told The Irrawaddy. "When the situation becomes normal, they
will go back to their village" but if the Burmese "army will not withdraw
from their village, we have to find a place for these people."
The group said they want to stay in Burma, but due to the close proximity
of the fighting they had no alternative other than to flee. "We are
afraid," says Ma Kyi, 42, and mother of a three-month old baby. "If the
shell lands in the village, we will get wounded. If we are unlucky, we may
die."

KNU Sec-Gen Padoh Mahn Sha said columns from Burmese army battalions 301
and 31 had attacked a company of KNU soldiers, led by Cap Sarsilar, from
battalion 201. Padoh Mahn Sha said one Burmese army company commander had
been killed but the KNU suffered no injuries.

Fighting continued this morning and Yaphaw villagers said yesterday that
one Burmese solider reportedly stepped on a land mine. And Thai border
officials said more Burmese troops were in route to the area from
Myawaddy, opposite Mae Sot.
There are also reports that two Thai villagers were apprehended by Burmese
troops on Tuesday when Burmese soldiers entered Lei Khaw Village. One was
reportedly released after paying 5,000 baht (US $116), but Nai Arkaw is
allegedly still being held, according to both Karen villagers and Thai
officials. It is unclear what the two Thai men were doing in Burma.

Sources also said one Burmese soldier crossed into Mae Akhu village, near
Yaphaw, and stripped a villager of his watch at gunpoint before fleeing
back over the border. Residents of Yaphaw Village have been moving away
from the border to avoid any stray shelling or cross border looting.

MONEY

The Nation January 9 2003

Chiang Mai hub 'needs work'
By Don Pathan

Chiang Mai has the potential to become an aviation hub, but more work must
be done to refine the concept, Singaporean Ambassador to Thailand Chan
Heng Win said yesterday.

"We think Chiang Mai has potential, but many areas need development," Chan
said.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra proposed the idea of turning Chiang Mai
into a regional aviation hub to Singapore last February. Based on
preliminary studies from the Singapore government, as well as input from
the Singapore Tourism Board, which visited the city in September last
year, the island state has suggested a budget airline be created to
accommodate travellers from the upper Southeast Asian region, including
southern China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Burma.

Thaksin is due to meet Goh this weekend at a retreat in Phuket, where they
will discuss their plans for Chiang Mai, Chan said.

Goh will be accompanied by his Foreign Minister S Jayakumar, Trade
Minister George Yeo and Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong.

In addition to the aviation hub plan, the two sides are expected to
discuss the future of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and what
Thailand and Singapore can do jointly to support certain economic sectors,
hopefully laying the groundwork for future, region-wide cooperation.

"We can tango together. We can take the floor first and others can join in
later," Chan said.

The ambassador said it was essential that Asean show the international
community and foreign investors that it can get projects off the ground.

"Asean faces a lot of competition," said Chan, citing China and India.

The two governments are also expected to discuss terrorism.

Singapore has taken an active role in combating terrorism, issuing white
papers on the activities of terrorist groups and urging neighbouring
countries not to be complacent in handling the issue.

REGIONAL

Renmin Ribao January 9 2003

Myanmar a Good Friend, Partner: China's Vice-president
China will work with Myanmar to boost cooperation in various fields for
their mutual benefit and to improve future bilateral ties, says Chinese
Vice-President Hu Jintao.

Hu made the remarks Wednesday at a meeting in Beijing with Than Shwe,
Chairman of Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council, who arrived in
Beijing Monday for a six-day state visit to China at the invitation of
Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

Hu said China's new leadership would continue to follow guidelines for
good-neighborly friendship and cooperation, and would always consider
Myanmar a good neighbor, friend and partner.

Hu said in the more than 50 years of diplomatic ties, China-Myanmar
relations, based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, had
withstood the test of international and domestic changes, and made steady
and vigorous progress.

Bilateral cooperation in various fields had continued to grow and had
reaped positive results, Hu said.

He voiced China's appreciation for the Myanmar government's one-China
policy and support for China's reunification.

He stressed that to further strengthen good-neighborly friendship and
cooperation was in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and their
common wish, and conducive to regional peace, stability and development.

Than Shwe said Myanmar valued its fraternal friendship with China,
regarded it as the most reliable of friends and would educate younger
generations to pass the torch of bilateral friendship from generation to
generation.

The Myanmar government and people were concentrating on national
reconciliation and building the economy, and Myanmar's efforts had proved
positive in a variety of ways with people's lives and conditions improved,
he said.

He thanked China for helping in Myanmar's development, saying it had
played an important role in the country's economic growth.

Myanmar would continue to abide by the one-China policy, support China's
reunification and further boost its overall cooperation with China, he
said.
___________

Deutsche Presse-Agentur January 9 2003

Naga leaders seek out autonomy to end 50-years of insurgency in India

Another attack in the troubled Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir is
announced - Moslem militants lob grenades and spray gunfire at Hindus.

While the international media covers the bloodshed in the name of
independence in India's Moslem-dominated northern state, a longer and
arguably more bloody fight for political freedom in the country's
northeast hardly grabs the headlines.

However after 50 years, the struggle by ethnic Nagas to win autonomy from
India is being addressed in New Delhi.

India lifted a ban on the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM)
party in November in an effort to halt the longest-running insurgency in
the country. Thousands of people have been killed in fighting over the
NSCN's goal of an independent Naga state of Nagalim, carved out of the
current Indian state of Nagaland, and joined by other ethnic
Naga-inhabited areas. The Naga people live in the Naga Hills of Myanmar
(Burma) and in northeastern India.

NSCN leaders Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu arrived in New Delhi
after 37 years in exile in Thailand. The leaders began talks with Indian
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Thursday - the first direct talks
with the Indian government in more than two decades.

The Naga secessionist movement is the oldest in the country and dates back
to days before India's independence from British colonial rule in 1947,
when the Naga Nationalist Council (NNC) leader Angami Z. Phizo sought out
a separate state. Phizo conducted a plebiscite in 1951 and claimed that
more than 90 per cent of Nagas were for independence from Hindu-dominated
India.

The Indian government is expecting the talks to pave the way to an end of
more than five decades of separatist struggle. K. Padmanabhaiah, the
government's interlocutor, said the talks would form a basis for future
dialogue.

"If the talks are successful, it will have a major impact on the other
insurgent groups of the northeast which receive assistance from Naga rebel
groups," Padmanabhaiah, who has been negotiating with NSCN since 1997,
said.

But lasting peace in the region remains a long way off. The Indian
government accuses the NSCN of supporting a variety of ethnic insurgent
groups. While some observers see the NSCN ban removal and direct talks as
a chance for peaceful change, others say it is only a small start in
solving a complex dispute in a region largely disconnected from the rest
of India.

Northeast India is a conglomerate of seven states - Assam, Arunachal
Pradesh, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya - bordering
four countries, China, Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Combined, the seven states are home to 5 per cent of India's population,
along with an estimated 50 different militant groups operating in the
region.

The groups' agendas vary from the goal of independence to simple
extortion. Many run parallel governments in remote areas where there is
little chance of state government intervention.

"Insurgency in the region arises from economic backwardness and political
alienation of the tribal population from the national mainstream,"
explained researcher Dinesh Kotwal in a report on the region.

Illegal immigrants complicate the issue. According to studies, between one
to two million immigrants have inundated the region in recent years.

Tripura was flooded with Hindu Bangladeshi migrants, Assam with Moslem
Bangladeshis, and Mizoram has seen an influx of Burmese Christians.

In some parts of Assam, the immigrant population constitutes more than 70
per cent of the total populace. This translates into separatist
aspirations which, in turn, stir nationalist passions.

The National Liberation Front of Tripura - one of the most brutal
insurgent groups operating in the northeast and predominantly made up of
Christian cadres, has a history of attacking non-Christian villages.

According to the Tripura state government, about 59,000 people have been
displaced from their homes due to militancy since 1998. In that period
about 900 people were killed in Tripura and 1,436 kidnapped.

Manipur and Nagaland have witnessed a total collapse of state governance.
Rebel gangs offer their own political leaders in many regions where state
officials and police are virtually non-existent. Rampant corruption
reigns.

The struggles have affected ties with neighbouring countries. India
accuses Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Myanmar supporting and harbouring
separatist groups.

Over the decades, the profile of many organizations has evolved; some have
entered politics, some have surrendered, and others have been reduced to
criminal gangs running extortion rackets.

"The romance is dead," said Sanjoy Hazarika, an expert on the region.
"Suddenly cadres don't have a cause, most groups no longer fight for any
cause and their ideology is lost."

One such group is the United Liberation Front of Assam. It lost its grip
on the Assamese population after a 1986 peace accord was signed, which
resulted in a decline in insurgent attacks.

India's recent decision to hold talks with Naga rebel leaders is also
expected to give a shot in the arm to the region's faltering economy.
Years of militant activity has taken its toll on economic prosperity.

"Our economic condition is very bad. There are a lot of unemployed,
educated young people," says former chief minister of Mizoram T. Sailo in
a recent newspaper interview.

In the rest of India, little is known about the northeast of the country.
On the streets of New Delhi, troubles in Kashmir dominate talk of
insurgency.

While the first move has been made to end a conflict that rivals the
bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir, it remains to be seen if India's oldest
separatist struggle will finally come to an end.

ON THE BORDER

Bangkok Post January 9 2003

Bordering on good times

The mood along the border with Burma is expected to be much more relaxed
this year after Army Commander Gen Somdhat Attanand issued firm guidelines
to troops not to do anything that might upset the generals in Rangoon and
others living a wee bit closer to the frontier.

Gen Somdhat last week told the monthly meeting of combat commanders,
including the commanders of the 3rd Army's task forces handling security
along the border, not to provide Burmese ethnic rebels with any military
support or allow them to use Thai soil as a jumping off point for attacks
on Burmese government forces.

"This was aimed purely at avoiding any unnecessary border tension with
Burma," said one officer.

Gen Somdhat, who will troop off to Burma for two days of talks on Jan 21,
believes any tension along the border could be avoided if his guidelines
are followed by the Pha Muang and Naresuan task forces, which are in
charge of security along the border running alongside Chiang Mai, Chiang
Rai, Mae Hong Son and Tak provinces. Tensions with Rangoon were ratcheted
up several gears last May when the Thai army held military exercises near
the border area. Rangoon accused the army of using the exercise to lend
support to the Shan State Army, the armed wing of an ethnic people, which
caused heavy casualties among Rangoon forces in a surprise attack which
coincided with the military exercise. Rangoon closed all checkpoints along
its border with Thailand on May 22.

Military officers said the Shan were now under pressure from the Thai
military to be far more careful in future assaults on government forces
near the border.

Yawd Serk, the SSA commander, has adopted a much lower profile of late
following statements by the leaders of the new Thai military regime and
the government of Thaksin Shinawatra about the need to foster much closer
relations with the Rangoon generals.

The SSA issued a statement on Jan 1 following its annual conference at its
headquarters at Doi Tai Laeng, opposite Mae Hong Son, claiming that "there
will be no battle in the border area" unless Burmese forces launch an
attack first against SSA bases.

The statement said the SSA would try its best to resolve its conflict with
the Rangoon military junta by peaceful political means.

A staff member at the Defence Ministry however said Rangoon had demanded
that the SSA lay down all its arms before it would agree to any peace
talks. This was certain, he said, to represent an obstacle to any progress
towards a lasting truce.

Brothers in talks

Thammarak Issarangkura na Ayutthaya might never have been a commander of
any of the three arms of the forces or a supreme commander, but he does
not see this as a "weak point".

In fact, the defence minister sees this as a bonus by allowing him to
enjoy good relations with all armed forces commanders. This should make
his job easier.

Gen Thammarak, who left military service as the head of the Armed Forces
Security Centre, said he likes to deal with the forces' commanders and
other senior officers as brothers.

"The armed forces chiefs and I are not that far apart on the basis of when
we graduated from military collage ," said the graduate of Chulachomklao
Royal Military Academy's Class 10. "So we are like brothers. We can sit
and talk to clear any problems."

This clearing of any problems takes place in Gen Thammarak's office on the
second floor of the Defence Ministry.

"Armed forces chiefs usually come and sit at a long table in my office. We
eat together and talk in a brotherly atmosphere."

The minister headed the Thai Rak Thai party's campaign push in the
Northeast in the last general elections in January 2001, and likes to
think of himself as a "mediator" between military officers and
politicians, be they in government or the opposition, and between fellow
military officers.

He hosted talks late last month between Democrat MPs Suwaroj Palang and
Peeraphan Saleeratwipak and Adm Taweesak Somapha, the navy chief, and
other naval officers on the matter of the purchase of two patrol vessels
together valued at 3.25 billion baht. The MPs had misunderstood aspects of
the arrangement, but this had been cleared up during the talks at the
Defence Ministry.

"From now on, any armed forces chief or military officer who has problems
with someone else will be invited to my office to talk in a
straightforward manner," the minister said.

He said he would invite the different forces chief in for consultations
when preparing details of any military reshuffle in April or September.

"Frank discussions on the qualifications of each individual will lead to
correct decisions. Important positions must be agreed upon in advance to
do away with problems."

Gen Thammarak said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may still want to
name the new commanders of the armed forces before announcing the full
reshuffle list, similar to the last reshuffle three months ago.

"No matter what method of military reshuffle is used, I will talk to all
commanders in advance to prevent problems.

"I want to see all military officers act like gentlemen. After a decision
is made together, or when a whistle is blown, nobody should make any
further move. They should accept the outcome. Endless comment will only
divide the armed forces," the minster said.

"I have never done anything damaging to the armed forces or to military
personnel in my life. As defence minister, I am duty bound to keep the
armed forces united."

A pretty safe bet

Sonthaya Khunpluem has held a number of cabinet posts, as deputy transport
minister and science minister in the last government and as tourism and
sports minister in the present administration, but never has there been a
public assessment of his performance.

In fact, mention his name and all anyone thinks of is that he is the son
of Somchai Khunpluem, aka Kamnan Poh, the hugely influential minor
government officer in Chon Buri who commands a totally self-financing
political faction.

But Mr Sonthaya is now generating some publicity all of his own after
serving as the bridegroom yesterday at the biggest wedding party Chon Buri
has ever seen.

The extravagance of the occasion came as no surprise to anyone who knows
the father of the groom. Dad has a hand in hotels, tourism and other
businesses along the eastern seaboard, and there is that unquestioned
reputation as a powerful political influence both at the local and
national levels.

This explains why nobody seems to care how well Mr Sonthaya does in the
cabinet. There is always an MP close to his dad by his side should he need
any assistance with his portfolio.

Yesterday's wedding bash was held at the Ambassador City Jomtien hotel
east of Pattaya.

Those with an interest in such things are advised to keep an eye on this
hotel, and Mr Somchai and hs minister son.

Mr Somchai has said he thinks Thailand could do with a (legal) casino, and
where better than in the internationally renowned resort destination of
Pattaya? The 5,000-room Ambassador City Jomtien won his endorsement.

The kamnan said investor groups from Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand,
among others, had shown an interest in a casino, which he thought would
attract bundles of cash to the country and promote tourism as well.

This idea, when it was mooted, was greeted with such a chorus of support
that many people believe the opening of a casino is all just a matter of
time, especially with son Sonthaya as tourism minister.

Sources say among those interested in setting up a casino in Pattaya are
Maj-Gen Sanan Kachornprasart, the interior minister and secretary-general
of the Democrat party until he was found guilty by the Constitutional
Court of lying about his wealth and was barred from holding any political
office for five years, and his cronies. Mr Somchai is said to be
coordinating.

Since all roads lead to Mr Somchai and his boy in the cabinet, the casino
is thought of as already a done deal.

And what more extravagant way to show that the political world is behind
Mr Somchai and his plans than with a slap-up wedding to which many of the
rich and famous were invited?

Our best wishes to the happy couple _ but these things are always a gamble.

EDITORIAL

South China Morning Post January 9 2003

Why China and Myanmar are drawing closer
By David Steinberg

Relations between China and Myanmar have warmed steadily in recent years,
with implications for the region. China backed the military after the
insurrection of 1988 (and Myanmar backed the Chinese after Tiananmen a
year later). China has supplied more than US$ 1.6 billion (HK$ 12.5
billion) in arms to Myanmar and continues to train a significant number of
its military. It has also provided economic assistance, and has helped
build extensive infrastructure throughout the country, including roads,
bridges, port facilities and dams.

These ties have been kindled further by a visit to China this week by
Myanmar's leader. Senior General Than Shwe is head of state and chairman
of the military State Peace and Development Council that controls the
country. He was accompanied by General Khin Nyunt, who is in charge of
intelligence and international affairs. The encounter is part of a pattern
of high-level visits that go back many years. But since Myanmar's military
coup of 1988, that relationship has become far closer. The China-Myanmar
connection is important for both countries and for the region.

Chinese products dominate much of the Myanmar market. Since border trade
was legalised in 1988, official trade has mushroomed; in 2001 it was more
than US$ 650 million, but this is grossly understated. Officially, Chinese
investment in Myanmar is infinitesimal, but because it does not go through
the Myanmar Investment Commission, it is unrecorded in international
statistics. In fact, it is probably the largest of any country.

Illegal but condoned Chinese immigration into northern Myanmar has given
many of those areas a Chinese air. Diplomatic observers believe that
Lashio, a critical city in the Shan state, is 50 per cent Chinese and that
Mandalay, the seat of Myanmar's culture, is one-fifth Yunnanese Chinese.
Capital is generally not available to private Myanmar ventures, but a
network of Chinese clan and linguistic credit associations ensures that
the future middle class of Myanmar will be strongly Chinese, with the
attendant dangers that may spark in such a highly nationalistic state.
Some argue that Myanmar was admitted to the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations in July 1997 in the hope the organisation could counter Chinese
influence. There has not yet been appreciable change.

Myanmar, with a population of close to 50 million, is a natural market for
Chinese goods; local products cannot compete on quality or price. But the
real attraction for the Chinese may be the strategic location of Myanmar
on the flank of India and near the northern entrance to the Malacca
Straits. Chinese access to the Bay of Bengal, according to New Delhi,
would further expand the circle of Chinese influences. Although relations
between India and China have certainly improved, New Delhi admitted a few
years ago that the real security threat to India was not Pakistan, but
China. Beijing may not worry about India, but New Delhi is clearly
concerned about the growth of Chinese influence. Since India tests its
missiles in the Bay of Bengal, Chinese access to the area could be useful
as a listening post.

Myanmar does not necessarily want to put all its eggs in the China basket,
so the military has purchased MiG-29 fighter jets from Russia, as well as
a research nuclear reactor. But the emphasis has been on the China
connection.

Although relations with China have been officially close, at the time of
Deng Xiaoping's visit when the Chinese were supporting the Burma Communist
Party along the China border, he claimed that state-to-state relations
were different from party-to-party relations.

Chinese support ended before the collapse of the Burma Communist Party in
1989, and that allowed the opening of more border trading posts between
the two countries.

China is the only significant supplier of economic assistance, beyond the
humanitarian aid from Japan and the international non-governmental
community. The Chinese influence concerns Japan, which would like to
restart its aid programme to Myanmar to counter the strong Chinese
presence, but has been restrained in part by the United States, which
seems intent on isolating Myanmar until political reconciliation takes
place.

The continuing close relationship between China and Myanmar at this stage
is likely to continue. Unofficially, some Chinese have been concerned
about the blatant presence of Chinese affluence in a poor, nationalistic
state. Anti -Chinese riots took place in the capital in the middle of the
Cultural Revolution in 1967, at which time the impoverished military
government turned civilian frustration on to the Chinese.

No antagonistic religious differences separate the two, so there is little
chance of a repeat of the incidents a few years ago when the Chinese were
vilified by the Muslim Indonesians in Jakarta. But the situation could
become more tense as economic conditions in Myanmar continue to decline.