BurmaNet News: January 16 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

January 16 2003 Issue #2158

INSIDE BURMA

Reuters: Buddhist nuns arrested in Myanmar for protest
Irrawaddy: Protest held in city hall
Irrawaddy: Mon conference begins

DRUGS

Borneo Bulletin: Brunei: Mission to free region from drugs

ON THE BORDER

Irrawaddy: New visa regulations for Burmese

REGIONAL

Xinhua: China, Myanmar to step up personnel training cooperation
Straits Times: The China dragon tightens its claws over Myanmar
Irrawaddy: Army commander headed to Burma

EDITORIAL

Research & Studies Centre, DPNS: The Burmese military: Turning to China
for loans without a political change

INSIDE BURMA

Reuters January 16 2003

Buddhist nuns arrested in Myanmar for protest

Myanmar's military government arrested two Buddhist nuns on Thursday when
they staged a protest in the capital Yangon against surging prices and
called for political change, witnesses said.

Dressed in light pink robes and waving a peacock flag, a symbol for Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), the nuns
were in front of Yangon City Hall shouting slogans against the rocketing
cost of living in Myanmar.

"They were shouting 'A fall in prices is the people's cause,"' one witness
told Reuters.

The witnesses said the nuns also held sheets of paper on which they had
written demands, including a call for the release of political prisoners
and the end of a political impasse between the military junta and the NLD.

The NLD swept to a landslide election victory in 1990, but has never been
allowed to rule by the military, which has held a tight grip on power for
over four decades.

Under intense international pressure, the junta freed Suu Kyi from house
arrest in May, raising hopes for a democratic transition, but has not yet
started talks with the NLD about political change.

Myanmar's military junta raised prices and charges in some state-owned
sectors by over 400 percent at the beginning of the year, sending prices
of everyday items such as newspapers and airline tickets soaring.

A free-falling kyat currency has added to inflationary pressures.
According to dealers, the military has detained at least a dozen
black-market currency and gold dealers in the last few days in an effort
to halt the kyat's slide.

According to dealers, the kyat is trading at 1,050 to the U.S. dollar on
the black market, up 31 percent from last April.

The official rate is 6.9 kyats to the U.S. dollar.
________

Irrawaddy January 16 2003

Protest held in city hall

Security officials arrested demonstrators while they were staging a
peaceful protest in front of City Hall in Rangoon.
According to reliable sources in Rangoon, police officials apprehended at
least two demonstrators.

Sources reported that a number of Burmese demonstrators gathered around
the City Hall in the morning. They later staged a protest demanding the
military government to release all political prisoners and to seek a
peaceful political solution in the country. It was not known how many
people were involved in the protest. Sources said that riot police also
came to the scene.
In August last year, a student staged a solo protest in front of the City
Hall. He was arrested and later sentenced to 14 years.
During the protest, Thet Naung Soe, a university student handed out copies
of a statement signed by himself. The statement deplored the suffering of
the Burmese people under military rule, and called on the ruling State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to begin genuine political dialogue
with the democratic opposition to address the country’s plight. The
statement also called for the release of all political prisoners.

In 2001, Salai Tun Than, a retired university professor in his seventies,
was arrested for holding a one-man protest against military rule in front
of Rangoon City Hall. He was given a 7-year sentence for challenging the
regime’s iron-fisted hold on power.
______________

Irrawaddy January 16 2003

Mon conference begins
By Naw Seng

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) says they will discuss the party’s future
political role and a possible reshuffle of top party members during the
party’s fifth conference, which begins today and runs through the end of
the month.

The conference, which takes place every four years, is being held at the
NMSP’s jungle headquarters in Burma’s Mon State. Hundreds of party
delegates from throughout Mon State will be attending, including members
from its armed wing, the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA), according to
party members.

"The NMSP seems to be stronger and more united than the last two years,"
said a Mon journalist today, who chose not to be identified.

The country’s fledgling reconciliation process, and the need for ethnic
minority groups to be included in the stalled negotiations between the
Burmese regime and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, will also be
discussed.

NMSP member Naing Han Thar told the BBC’s Burmese Service that they would
be looking into the increasing number of Burmese army battalions in Mon
State as well as the number of land confiscations by Burmese troops.
Analysts believe another focus of the conference will be the Honsawatoi
Restoration Party (HRP), which split from the NMSP in November 2001. The
HRP, led by Col Naing Pan Nyunt, has been involved in a number of armed
clashes with the NMSP, killing one NMSP central committee member and four
other party members.

Despite a June 1995 ceasefire agreement between the NMSP and the Burmese
regime, analysts say egregious human rights abuses still persist in Mon
State.

"The ceasefire issue should be discussed," said one NMSP officer today. "I
don’t think there is pressure from the SPDC [Burmese government], because
this is just a regular conference."
Naing Shew Kyin founded the NMSP in July 1958 and remains chairman. The
party split into two factions in April 1981 before reuniting in December
1987.

DRUGS

Borneo Bulletin January 16 2003

BRUNEI: MISSION TO FREE REGION FROM DRUGS
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

A drug forum held in Chiang Mai, Thailand came to a conclusion last Monday
that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China
envisaged for this region to be drugs-free by 2015.

The meetings were attended by delegates from the ten Asean countries of
Brunei Darussalam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos,
Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar as well as China. It was hosted by
the Thailand Narcotics Control Board and aimed at strengthening
cooperation between Asean countries and China.

Representatives from the United Nations Drugs Control Programme (UNDCP),
the United States, Japan, Australia and Britain also attended the meeting.

China had earlier agreed to join other countries in encouraging poppy
growers to turn to substitute crops.

The delegates were also taken to opium-substitute crop projects, which
were initiated by the Thai Royal Family at Doi Inthanont. The farmers in
northern Thailand were encouraged to plant substitute crops instead of
poppy plants, which are derivatives of opium and heroin.

The Thai Royal projects were initiated by His Serene Highness Prince
Bhisadej Ratjani, the royal guest at the SEAWrite Award 2002 presentation
held in Bangkok, Thailand last October.

The success of the projects was attributed to the Royal connection mainly
because the Thai people held high respect for their Royal family.

Such projects of substitution were also said to have caused opium
cultivation in Myanmar and Laos to fall.

However, UNDCP was still worried about opium cultivation in war-torn
Afghanistan.

Laos, meanwhile wanted to eradicate opium by 2005. Myanmar expected to
have drugs under control by 2014.

Britain is spending 120 million baht (B$ 5 million) on promoting
substitute crops in Myanmar's Shan state this year.

ON THE BORDER

Irrawaddy January 16 2003

New Visa Regulations for Burmese
By Shawn L. Nance

Burmese citizens in Thailand will have to find creative ways to extend
their stays in the Kingdom.
On Dec 29, the Thai government changed the list of countries for which no
visa is required to enter the Kingdom for 30 days and for those that can
receive an automatic 15-day visa on arrival. Burma is not on either list,
meaning that Burmese passport holders must now apply for a Thai visa
before entering Thailand.

A Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman refused to comment when
asked why the ministry ordered the directive, but said that the list of
countries eligible for visas on arrival and automatic 30-day visits was
subject to change.
Previously, Burmese democracy supporters and other citizens could leave
Thailand—usually via border checkpoints with Cambodia and Laos—and in a
couple of hours receive an automatic 30 days legal time upon reentering
the Kingdom. Now, however, they must travel to a third country to apply
for a visa.

But the ministry has reportedly ordered the Thai Embassies in Cambodia and
Laos to not issue any visas to Burmese passport holders. Earlier this
month, a Burmese dissident was turned back at the Cambodian border
checkpoint at Poipet and visa agencies in Thailand have confirmed the
move. A spokesperson for the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, however, said
that they were issuing about five transit visas per day to people from
Burma. Conflicting reports continue to circulate around Thailand.
A Western diplomatic source said that the move could be a pretext to
scrutinize Burmese passports and cautioned that Burmese could not be
guaranteed a Thai visa from an embassy in another country. This is
particular worrisome for senior and well-known leaders of the Burmese
democracy movement in exile who could get stranded outside Thailand, says
a Western specialist on migration issues in Thailand.

The visa restrictions are the latest in a series of Thai decisions that
many believe are aimed at accommodating Burma’s military government. In
August, authorities arrested 31 Burmese dissidents in Sangklaburi and most
Burmese democracy organizations in the border town have shut their offices
altogether. Last month, the US-trained Task Force 399 was relieved of its
drug suppression role because Rangoon seemed to regard it with suspicion.
And in recent months, the two sides have been discussing a series of
development projects along the Thai-Burma border.

Sunai Pasuk, a researcher at the Bangkok-based human rights organization
Forum-Asia, said that they new visa regulations are part of a systematic
move to rid Thailand of Burmese pro-democracy groups. He and others
observers in Thailand add that by vowing to clean up its illegal immigrant
problem, the Thai government could conduct an across the board crackdown
on dissidents in the Kingdom.
Others believe that Bangkok delivered the order as a tit-for-tat with
Rangoon. Last July 15 Thai journalists were blacklisted from entering
Burma, but other Thais have also had difficulties entering the country,
according to an NGO worker in Bangkok.

REGIONAL

Xinhua News Agency January 16 2003

China, Myanmar to step up personnel training cooperation

China and Myanmar are to strengthen cooperation in education and personnel
training, Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing said here Wednesday.

Li met with Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) of
Myanmar Than Shwe in Yangon Wednesday. Li said China is ready to share its
experience with Myanmar on the development of science and education as a
strategy of the nation. He said China has placed great importance on the
input into science, technology and education over the past two decades and
the development of education and personnel training has played an
important role in China's economic growth.

Than Shwe said Myanmar also regards education and talent training as a
major factor for improving people's living standard and the Myanmar
government is increasing input in science, technology, education, cultural
and public health. He expressed the wish that Myanmar will expand
cooperation with China in these areas, especially in the area of personnel
training.

Li said the Chinese government places great importance on the traditional
friendship between China and Myanmar. China will continue to uphold the
good-neighborly, friendly policy toward Myanmar and push mutually
beneficial cooperation to a new level, he said.

Than Shwe said over the years, China has always lent a helping hand to
Myanmar in times of difficulties and the people of Myanmar will never
forget this. He repeatedly emphasized that China is the most important
friend of Myanmar. He said the two countries do not have any problems in
bilateral relations as two-way trade and economic cooperation have kept
growing.

Noting that the two countries have been supporting each other in
international affairs, he said Myanmar will always stand by the side of
China on any issues concerning the interests of China.
__________

Straits Times January 16 2003

The China dragon tightens its claws over Myanmar
By Lee Kim Chew

WHEN Myanmar's military ruler, Senior General Than Shwe, calls China a
'fraternal friend', he means precisely that.

The general's trip to Beijing last week yielded a US$200 million (S$346
million) preferential loan package, several pacts to enhance health,
technical and economic cooperation, plus the prospect of new industrial
projects to help Yangon's cash-strapped junta.

According to the People's Daily, China also agreed to write off 'part of
the due debts that Myanmar borrowed from China'. For Myanmar, an
impoverished country starved of foreign investment, China is a benefactor
that builds new bridges, roads, power plants, paper mills, tractor
factories and more. Last November, a Chinese engineering company agreed to
build a four-lane highway bridge across the Irrawaddy River in Mandalay,
Myanmar's second largest city. To be completed in 2 1/2 years, it is the
company's sixth major bridge project, and the Chinese will provide the
design, equipment and materials.

The Chinese last year also completed the first phase of Yangon's Thilawa
shipyard, by far China's biggest project in Myanmar.

Again, the Chinese provided for everything. The new shipyard enables
Myanmar to build five ships and repair 50 vessels a year, something it
could not do previously.

Last March, the China National Electronics Import and Export Shenzhen
Company signed a US$6.5 million contract with the Myanmar authorities to
build digital auto-telephone exchanges in 12 towns - a huge step forward
for a nation with only 280,000 telephones for 46 million people.

In recent years, the Chinese have become involved in key sectors of
Myanmar's economy, which atrophied after three decades of autarchy.

Last April, China's Yunnan Airways became the first foreign carrier to
start commercial flights from Kunming to Mandalay's underused airport,
built three years ago at a cost of US$150 million for the tourist influx
that never was.

To attract more Chinese visitors, the Myanmar authorities allowed them to
use the renminbi on their visits to the country.

China is Myanmar's third largest trading partner after Singapore and
Thailand, with bilateral trade hitting US$621 million in 2000. This is a
fraction of the US$39.5 billion Asean-China trade, but the statistics
belie China's predominant role in Myanmar.

Whether it is Chinese fertiliser plants or water pumps to irrigate paddy
fields and boost Myanmar's rice exports, China's widening involvement
underscores its growing presence in the military-run state.

Already considerable, its clout is likely to grow even more. China's
massive aid and trade, unmatched by any other country, fills the large
void created by Myanmar's diplomatic isolation.

Shunned by Western democracies for their refusal to hand political power
to civilians after the 1990 elections, Myanmar's generals have relied
heavily on the Chinese.

The junta has, in recent years, turned to non-Chinese sources too. It is,
for instance, buying Russian MiG fighter jets and has enlisted Moscow's
help to build a 10 megawatt nuclear reactor in central Myanmar.

According to a Russian language teacher quoted by the dissident Irrawaddy
magazine, about 600 Myanmar scientists are now studying in Moscow.

But despite the diversification, China remains the chief supplier of
military hardware - tanks, ships, aircraft, rockets, recoilless guns and
ammunition - to the Yangon junta, which spends about one third of its
budget on the armed forces.

Myanmar's ties with China go back five decades to 1949, when it became the
first non-communist country to recognise the People's Republic of China.

China's new leader Hu Jintao said Beijing would always consider Myanmar 'a
good neighbour, friend and partner', the People's Daily said in a report
on Senior General Than Shwe's latest trip to Beijing.

The general, acknowledging China's 'important' role in his country's
economy, said Myanmar would abide by the one-China policy, support China's
reunification and boost its cooperation with Beijing.

He said Myanmar regarded China as 'the most reliable of friends, and it
would educate younger generations to pass the torch of bilateral
friendship from generation to generation'.

Thus the frequent exchange visits by the leaders of both countries.

Yangon's 'paukphaw' (fraternal) friendship with Beijing unnerves India,
which fought a border war with China in 1962.

New Delhi fears that Myanmar has become a springboard for the Chinese to
project their military power in the Indian Ocean.

It suspects China's motives for supporting Myanmar's moves to upgrade its
naval facilities and electronic listening posts in the Bay of Bengal and
the Andaman Sea.

To counter China's growing influence, India has, since 1996, stopped
criticising Yangon, and instead tried to improve relations with the
military regime. Still, China's influence as a rising power will become
more palpable in the years ahead.

With its growing economic might comes political clout.

The proposed Asean-China free-trade agreement, if it comes about in 2010,
will further enhance Chinese presence in the region.

China's influence will be felt more keenly in a two-tier Asean grouping,
particularly by the poorer Asean states which are its immediate
neighbours.

Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos (all three share common borders with China) and
Cambodia get Chinese aid, one way or another.

China has also pledged assistance for the proposed US$2.5 billion
Singapore-Kunming Rail Link project, a 5,500 km track that runs through
the continental Asean states.

This may be yet another project through which Beijing can increase its
influence in South-east Asia.
_________

Irrawaddy January 16 2003

Army Commander Headed to Burma
By Aung Su Shin

Thai army Commander in Chief Gen Somdhat Attanand is heading to Burma on
January 21 for a two-day visit to discuss an array of issues, including
drug suppression and the repatriation of Burmese refugees, said a Thai
army spokesperson today. The visit marks Gen Somdhat’s first to Burma
since being promoted to the post in October 2002.
Col Somkuan Sompattaranat said that the commander and Burmese junta
officials would also talk about anti-Rangoon groups working from Thai
soil, something that has long agitated Burma’s military government. A Thai
army statement also said illegal immigration would be analyzed.

"General Somdhat Attanand will discuss with his counterpart for the Thai
and Burmese armies to have a joint patrol along the Thai-Burma border to
suppress drug trafficking and production," said Col Somkuan.

Concerning the repatriation of Burmese refugees, Col Somkuan said while UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officials in Thailand may not agree
with the idea, Thai officials would only go ahead with repatriation after
they could first "ensure a safe environment in Burma". He said Burmese
authorities must also guarantee their safety.

Thai authorities will also get rid off all opposition groups fighting
neighboring countries from Thailand, according to the Col. Thai
authorities have already begun pressuring Burmese opposition groups along
the border, which has drawn criticism from human rights groups in Thailand
and abroad.

Rights groups have accused the Thai government of attempting to appease
the regime by silencing the Burmese opposition groups. Col Somkuan,
however, denied this instead saying it was in line with Thai policy.

Referring to villagers from Sangklaburi, Thailand, who have been forced to
leave their homes by the Thai military, Col Somkuan said: "The 9th
Infantry Division has rearranged the villages along the border because our
government policy is that we do not want any groups to use our land to
fight against our neighbor
not because of the pressure of our neighbor."

EDITORIAL

Research & Studies Centre, Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS)
January 16 2003

The Burmese military: Turning to China for loans without a political change

Sr. Gen. Than Shwe returned from his state visit to China on January 11
with US $ 200 million in preferential loans for economic development. This
infusion of cash will ease the generals' immediate foreign reserve
problems and give a boost to the ailing economy.

Than Shwe's visit came shortly after the regime failed to persuade the US
government to remove it from the list of countries decertified for
assistance because of continued drug production and trafficking. If Burma
were taken off the list, it would have had a better chance to receive
anti-narcotics assistance and other forms of funding from international
institutions.

Compared to other countries, the United States has taken the strongest
measures against the regime because of its continued human rights abuses,
its ongoing large-scale drug production and its refusal to move forward
with political dialogue. Besides decertification, the US government
maintains sanctions and blocks any attempts by the IMF and World Bank to
provide financial assistance. However, so far the regime has been able to
withstand the pressure.

No doubt Burma's economy is in terrible shape. Also, it is not surprising
that the military sees its regional big brother China as its last resort
for economic survival. At the same time, China appears to want to maintain
its interests in Burma by providing this loan. 200 million US dollars may
be significant for the Burmese regime but it is not a particularly big
amount for China, given its growing economy.

Although it may not like relying on its northern neighbor, the Burmese
regime has turned to China because China does not attach unpalatable
demands to its loan packages. Unlike Western countries, China does not
insist that Burma engage in meaningful talks with Aung San Suu Kyi or
release political prisoners. Moreover, China is not asking the regime to
work together with the National League for Democracy in overseeing
international assistance, as some Western governments are urging for the
disbursement of humanitarian aid.

So what does China want in return from Burma and how has Burma responded?
China's is mainly concerned with its regional strategic interests; namely,
to monitor its regional hegemonic rival, India. Over the past 13 years,
China has provided extensive military assistance to the regime, which has
allowed Chinese military technicians to travel through Burma and its
territorial waters. It can engage in surveillance over Indian weapons
tests and ship movements in the Indian Ocean. This Chinese interest does
not compromise the generals' hold on power. At the same time, Burma has
been able to benefit from China and India's rivalry by attracting support
from both countries, each of which wants to counter the influence of the
other.

China has also supported road construction projects in Burma for trade and
strategic reasons. And China views Burma as a good market to keep selling
its cheap-but-low-quality commodities and military hardware. However,
China has been adversely affected by the spread of Burmese opium and
heroin from the China-Burma border to cities throughout the southern part
of the country. To curb production, it has supported crop substitution
programs in Wa areas of Northern Burma and encouraged Wa relocation
programs that have moved approximately 100,000 Wa from the China border
south to the Thai-Burma border. As a result, the flow of drugs into China
has been reduced somewhat.

Although China and Burma are linked through overlapping interests and a
distaste for Western human rights talk, they are on different paths. Since
China's Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989, Chinese leaders have managed a
largely successful program of economic liberalization, increasing the
standard of living for much of the population. In Burma, however, the
generals have mismanaged the economy and things have gotten worse for most
ordinary citizens since its pro-democracy uprising in 1988.

Although China's 200 USD loan alone might not save the failing Burmese
economy, Burma's access to China may allow the regime to keep hanging on
despite mounting western pressure for a political change.