BurmaNet News: September 1-2 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

September 1-2, 2003 Issue #2317

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi on Hunger Strike
Guardian: US says Suu Kyi on hunger strike: Western anxiety grows, despite
Burmese denial
DVB: ‘Democracy road plan’ of the SPDC
Narinjara: Buddhist rites to prevent foreign invasion!

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Burmese Worker Raped and Killed

MONEY
Nation: Burma slumps on the economic ropes
Xinhua: Myanmar to hold mid-year gems emporium

REGIONAL
Nation: Reforming Burma: PM backs junta's road map
BP: Chavalit to brief China on Burma
Kaladan: Border trade with Burma halts on trader strike
Xinhua: China reiterates mutual respect for sovereignty, independence

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: UN "deeply disturbed" over reported hunger strike of Myanmar's Suu Kyi
LA Times: State Officials to Press Unocal

EDITORIALS
Irrawaddy: New Approach to Combat the Rhetoric
Guardian: Goons in Rangoon: Concern increases over Burmese leader
The Age: No One Should Indulge Burma's Generals

STATEMENTS
UK Foreign Office Minister Mike O’Brien on hunger strike reports


----INSIDE BURMA----

The Irrawaddy   September 01, 2003
Suu Kyi on Hunger Strike

One day after Burma’s newly appointed Prime Minister presented his road
map to democracy, the US State Department reported that Burmese opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi was on a hunger strike.

Suu Kyi is refusing food to protest her illegal detention by the country’s
military regime known as the State Peace and Development Council, US State
Department Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker said in a statement released
yesterday.

The Burmese government did not deny the news of the hunger strike by the
Nobel Peace laureate, but said it was "confused" by the reports.

A press release from Rangoon said, "The government as well as governments
around the world are confused and we firmly believe it is quite odd for
the US State Department to make such a claim without stating any sources
to verify its allegation."

Burma’s pro-democracy leader was taken into "protective custody" on May
30, shortly after her convoy was ambushed by government-backed thugs.
Authorities have refused to reveal where Suu Kyi is being held.
Representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the
UN Special Envoy to Burma Razali Ismail were granted access to Suu Kyi,
and reported that she was in good health.

"The timing is very convenient," a veteran journalist in Rangoon said of
Suu Kyi’s decision to go on a hunger strike after the Prime Minister’s
first address. "Though we cannot confirm [news of the strike], it is
possible that she went on a hunger strike to show that she is unhappy with
Khin Nyunt’s speech."

In an address on Saturday morning, new Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt
outlined the junta’s road map. He said Burma would resume the National
Convention, which was adjourned in 1996, and that "free and fair"
elections would be held after the drafting a new constitution.

In Burma’s last free elections, held in 1990, Suu Kyi’s National League
for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide, but the results was never honored.
Khin Nyunt mentioned Suu Kyi’s name only in a criticism of her party’s
boycott of the National Convention six years ago.
"Many in Rangoon were disappointed with Khin Nyunt’s speech," a journalist
in Rangoon said. Pro-democracy forces see Khin Nyunt’s road map as a
dead-end which excludes Suu Kyi and the NLD.

Rangoon-based political observers who are close to the NLD told The
Irrawaddy that veteran politicians held a meeting this morning to discuss
Suu Kyi’s health and the current political deadlock.

They expressed great concern for her health and asked the junta to open a
dialogue with Suu Kyi. They asked the government to stop her from staging
the hunger strike, and even issued a plea to Suu Kyi herself to quit her
strike. The statement was signed by the veteran politicians, some of who
are in their 90s, and sent to junta chairman and now President, Sr-Gen
Than Shwe, and Khin Nyunt this afternoon.

Saturday also marked three months since her arrest and US government
officials claim Suu Kyi is protesting her ongoing detention.

"We are deeply concerned for her safety and well-being," Reeker said.
"This courageous leader of the National League for Democracy and proponent
of non-violent political change, has placed herself at risk on many
occasions in pursuit of democracy and respect for basic human rights in
Burma."

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said it will try to
visit Suu Kyi but it cannot confirm if she is on a hunger strike. After
the ICRC first visited Suu Kyi under detention, the junta agreed that ICRC
would be allowed to see her again.

Washington has been the regime’s toughest critic since Suu Kyi's arrest on
May 30. Last week, stiff US sanctions came into effect, crippling Burmese
trade. The US government called for the immediate release of Suu Kyi and
all political prisoners; and urged the regime to enter into serious
political dialogue with Burma’s political parties.


The Guardian (London)   September 2, 2003
US says Suu Kyi on hunger strike: Western anxiety grows, despite Burmese
denial
By John Aglionby South-east Asia correspondent

Burma's junta and the US became embroiled in a diplomatic row yesterday
over the fate of the Burmese pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, after
Washington said she had gone on a hunger strike to protest at her
three-month incarceration.

In a statement late on Sunday the US state department said it had learned
that Ms Suu Kyi had stopped eating "to protest her illegal detention by
(the) military regime". It gave few other details, but said Washington was
"deeply concerned for her safety and well-being".

The junta, known officially as the state peace and development council,
poured scorn on the claim. The foreign ministry said the report was
"groundless". "We believe it is quite odd for the United States to make
such a claim without stating any sources to verify its allegation," it
added.

But no Burmese officials were willing to comment on Ms Suu Kyi's welfare.
She is being held in "protective custody", according to the junta, which
claims she is at risk of assassination. She has been kept in the notorious
Insein jail in the capital, Rangoon, but her current whereabouts is
unknown.

Her party, the National League for Democracy, was unable to confirm the
hunger strike claim. Many of its senior leadership are in jail, detained
with Ms Suu Kyi on May 30 after her party convoy was attacked in northern
Burma, allegedly by several thousand soldiers and regime thugs.

It is thought that dozens of her supporters were killed in the ambush near
Mandalay and about 100 were detained. Many NLD offices have since been
closed down.

Representatives of the International Committee for the Red Cross in
Rangoon, who were the last foreigners to see the Nobel peace laureate, on
July 28, were also unable to shed light on the situation.

Alfredo Mallet, the deputy ICRC representative, said: "We will know about
it when we see her again." But no date has been set for such a meeting.

The British Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien said yesterday he was
"deeply concerned" by the US report.

"I told (the Burmese ambassador to Britain) that the only way we could be
sure if the reports were true would be if the International Committee of
the Red Cross could visit Aung San Suu Kyi as soon as possible," Mr
O'Brien said. "The British government holds the Burmese authorities
responsible for Aung San Suu Kyi's health and welfare."

The head of the Burma UK Campaign, John Jackson, urged Britain, which has
just taken over the chair of the UN security council, to put Burma on the
council's agenda.

"If Aung San Suu Kyi is on hunger strike it is a last resort, as she has
been abandoned by the UN," Mr Jackson said. "Her arrest and the massacre
of up to 100 of her supporters has only been discussed for a few minutes
under 'any other business'. It's a disgrace."

The human rights group Amnesty International believes there are about
1,400 political prisoners in Burma, some of whom have been detained for
decades.

If the US government report is correct, analysts believe Ms Suu Kyi's move
could be linked to the junta's announcement on Saturday that it was
resurrecting its "road map" to democracy. This was shelved in 1996 after
the NLD, which won Burma's last general election in 1990 but was never
allowed to take office, walked out on the talks after refusing to consent
to giving the military a formal role in politics.

When announcing the road map, the junta suggested there would be no role
for Ms Suu Kyi or the NLD in the new national convention, which will write
a new constitution and pave the way for "free and fair elections". No date
for the transition to democracy was given.

Two of Burma's neighbours, China and Thailand, warmly welcomed the
initiative, which was made by the junta's new prime minister, General Khin
Nyunt.

Gen Khin Nyunt took over the previously ceremonial position last week in a
reshuffle of the government, which saw several minister "retire". It is
not clear whether this is a promotion or demotion for the regime's former
third-ranked official, who is still thought to be head of the powerful
military intelligence bureau, because the junta has recently become even
more secretive than ever.


Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB)   September 1, 2003
‘Democracy road plan’ of the SPDC

Burmese oppositions and political activists inside and outside Burma
denounce the ‘new’ plans of moving Burmese politics forward by the
‘National Convention’ outlined by the new Prime Minister of SPDC, General
Khin Nyunt in his speech on 30 August.

Diplomats and observers in Rangoon have also said that the general is just
making the old idea new. General Khin Nyunt addressed his cabinet
ministers, military commanders, organisations under the command of the
SPDC for the first time on policy matters at Parliament Building.

The general explained the seven steps of ‘democracy road map’ for the
changeover to democracy and he stated to reconvene the National Convention
which was postponed since 1996, to draft basic constitution, to hold a
referendum and a new election and form a new government.

An observer have also said it is clear that military junta is planning to
go on ruling the country on its own, An Asian diplomat said that the
prospect for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is now remote.

General Khin Nyunt attacked the NLD and denounced the US sanctions in his
speech but he didn’t say how long it would take to implement the
‘democracy road map’.


Narinjara News   September 2, 2003
Buddhist rites to prevent foreign invasion!

Maungdaw:  Burma’s ruling junta, State Peace and Development Council,
began to conduct a Buddhist religious ceremony at the border town of
Maungdaw on the Naaf River in the western part of the country on 27th
August 03.  Sources said that the ceremony began at 0441 hours local time
and ended at 5:45 pm (1745 hrs).

U Pandithara, the abbot of Alodawbreh Monastery, and fifteen other monks
initiated the ceremony.  For the first thirtyfive minutes they chanted the
Upakathindhi Sutta while nine other groups of lay people continued to
chant the same sutta.

The ceremony was conducted in a stage built so as to face Bangladesh in
the garden in front of the Mroma Market.  The cost of the building of the
stage and the entire ceremony was collected from the townspeople by force.

For the ceremony each of the quarters of the township had to bear the cost
of nine sets of ritualistic offerings of mostly fruits.  According to a
Buddhist monk attending the function, the ceremony will be continued to be
held at nine hours a day, nine times a month and nine months in a year. 
The monk said that the number nine so used shows that the entire ceremony
is a practice of magic aimed at lengthening the rule of the junta.

In the township the people have been forced to take civil defence
training, what the junta termed as preparation for defending the country
from foreign invasion, that has greatly hampered the agricultural and
other works for their own sustenance.

The ceremony has been conducted throughout Burma since that day, the first
day of the Burmese month of Tawthaling.  The ceremony was attended by six
hundred people including Brigadier General Maung Oo, the chairman of the
Rakhine State Peace and Development Council.

The junta believes that the sutta helped the ancient Burmese kings to
prevent the war with China on many occasions.


----ON THE BORDER----

The Irrawaddy   September 02, 2003
Burmese Worker Raped and Killed
By Aung Su Shin

Around 800 workers from the Ki Found knitting factory in Mae Sot, Thailand
protested this morning after one of their co-workers was found raped and
killed. The workers say the crime was committed by the factory’s security
guard and don’t trust that police will see that justice is served.

Police Sgt-Maj Sathiang Kaewriang said the body of Ma Oo, 25, was found
near Pu Tae village, 2 km from the factory. Sources say she disappeared
last Sunday night, and was last seen being taken away on the guard’s
motorbike.

When workers heard that the woman had been raped and killed, they rushed
to the factory and attacked the guard, who is a Thai national. Mae Sot
police went to the factory to arrest the guard but were prevented from
leaving the factory compound. The factory workers are worried the suspect
will be freed.

"We will take action if we find he is guilty. This kind of crime deserves
the death sentence," Mae Sot Police Superintendent Col Sonkran Sangkakorn
told workers through a translator. "Under the law, all humans are equal."

After a two-hour stand-off, the workers agreed to let the police vehicle
pass.

Sources say the suspect was charged last year for trafficking
methamphetamines, but later released. Workers are worried that the case
will be like the massacre of six Burmese workers which took place in Mae
Sot in late May, where the murder suspect was released on bail.

* The name of the rape victim is a pseudonym.


----MONEY----

The Nation (Thailand)   September 1, 2003
Burma slumps on the economic ropes

Sanctions imposed after the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi have exacerbated
a crisis caused by widespread bank failures

One of the biggest challenges facing the newly appointed Burmese Prime
Minister Khin Nyunt is to rescue the national economy from its deep crisis
before public discontent over the downturn is translated into a force that
could post a serious threat to the military-run regime.

The Burmese economy ran into trouble last year as a result of widespread
flooding which seriously damaged agriculture, the sector that accounts for
over 40 per cent of gross domestic product.

Early this year the economy took an even deeper plunge when many financial
institutions went into bankruptcy as a result of mismanagement. They took
deposits illegally and lent to high-risk sectors money which then turned
into non-performing loans.

Some non-bank financial institutions took money without limiting the
annual interest rate on the deposit. Some went as high as 60 per cent per
annum, which is six times higher than the ceiling set by the Central Bank
of Myanmar.

The acceptance of illegal deposits in some non-bank institutions soon
affected the whole financial system as commercial banks copied the idea as
an incentive to their customers. Some 20 private commercial banks,
including Asian Wealth Bank, Yoma Bank, Myanmar Oriental Bank and Myanmar
May Flower Bank, went into bankruptcy. Owners of these banks have close
connections with leaders in the junta, including Than Shwe and Khin Nyunt.

Rumours going around Rangoon about the malaise in the banking system
caused panic among depositors. The problem got out of control and quickly
triggered a bank crisis in the country.

Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, then "secretary one" of the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), attempted to mitigate public panic by calling
on depositors to stop withdrawing money and to have confidence in the
banking system. The government did implement some measures in an attempt
to improve the situation, including granting 25 billion kyat (Bt1 million)
from the central bank to bail out commercial banks and issuing a
regulation to limit maximum withdrawal per account to 100,000 kyat per
week. Some small banks allowed each customer to withdraw only 50,000 kyat
a week.

The then fnance minister Khin Maung Thein, who was perceived as
incompetent, was replaced by Hla Tun. Banks ceased to issue new credit
cards and rejected payment with existing ones.However, such measures did
not seem to work, and the banking crisis has continued.

Analysts believe the arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on May
30 had a direct connection with the economic crisis. The junta was afraid
that the opposition would use economic problems as a pretext to galvanise
public support and mobilise anti-government resentment to topple them. On
May 30 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi violently clashed with
pro-government thugs during a political tour in Burma's north, which
resulted in the detention of dozens of National League for Democracy
members. The arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi created bad publicity for the
government, but the junta may have thought that the situation was severe
enough to justify her arrest.

The junta's miscalculation has had a severe impact on Burma, both
politically and economically. The arrest prompted international
condemnation, and Western countries have imposed economic sanctions on the
country to express their disapproval of her detention, while Japan has
frozen aid.

Nevertheless the sanctions seem to hurt the people more than the
government. The generals in the junta will be damaged by the sanctions but
not so much as people in the cities like Rangoon and Mandalay. The
sanctions imposed upon Burma will hurt the more modern economic sectors
such as banking, trading and manufacturing which form the driving engine
of economic growth. The middle-class people in these sectors who have the
potential to become a crucial force in bringing about political change
are, ironically, the ones who are the worst hit.

Political and economic sanctions hamper the prospect of exports and
foreign direct investment, according to a report by the Manila-based Asian
Development Bank. A capital crunch as the result of a lack of exports and
foreign investment has caused foreign-exchange constraints for Burma.

The kyat has already lost value against the US dollar and baht since last
year. The Burmese currency is officially fixed at six kyat to $1, but the
market rate is currently 1,020, down from some 800 at the beginning of the
banking crisis late last year. The currency slid further after US
sanctions went into effect on August 28.

Economic sanctions will also have indirect effects upon the agricultural
sector. When the dollar rate goes up, so does the price of the imports
farmers need such as fertiliser, pesticides, tractors and other farm
equipment. And it could raise the price of rice.

The rice price is one of the key factors which could be used to gauge
popular discontent. When it goes up, it badly affects urban workers.
Theoretically, economic hardship could lead to a chaotic situation and
provide the basis for the masses to form themselves into an
anti-government mob.

The new premier, Khin Nyunt, does not seem to have many options. The
government is not capable of rehabilitating the banking system by itself,
as it has no money. Among the few other options remaining, the premier
needs, if he can, to push for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi to free his
country from international pressure and sanctions.

Aung San Suu Kyi herself has no bearing on Burmese economy. Perhaps she
also has no idea how to solve the ongoing economic crisis, but her release
would persuade "hard-line" countries in the West to relax and allow the
inflow of capital into the Burmese economy.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee
Rungrawee C Pinyorat
THE NATION


Xinhua General News Service   September 2, 2003
Myanmar to hold mid-year gems emporium

YANGON, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) --Myanmar will hold its 12th Mid-Year Gems
Emporium on Oct. 15 this year to put on sale its domestically-produced
quality gems, jade, pearl and jewelry through competitive bidding and at
fixed price.

This was announced by the state-run Myanma Gems Enterprise on Tuesday.

Mid-year gems emporium was introduced in addition to the annual ones since
1992 to boost the country's foreign exchange earning.

To develop the gem mining industry, Myanmar enacted the New Gemstone Law
in September 1995, allowing national entrepreneurs to mine, produce,
transport and sell finished gemstone and manufactured jewelry at home and
abroad.

Since April 2000, the government has started mining of gems and jade in
joint venture with 10 private companies on a profit sharing basis.

Official statistics showed that Myanmar's government sector produced
31.464 tons of jade, 2.313 million carats of sapphire, 2. 008 million
carats of ruby and 5.741 kilograms of pearl in fiscal 2001-02 which ended
in March.

There are three famous gem lands in Myanmar --Mogok in Mandalay division,
Mongshu in Shan state and Phakant in Kachin state.


----REGIONAL----

The Nation (Thailand)   September 1, 2003
REFORMING BURMA: PM backs junta's road map

Urges all countries to support Rangoon's 7-point reconciliation plan

There is no longer any need for the government to help draft a Burma "road
map" since the new Burmese prime minister unveiled his own version on
Saturday, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday.

Thailand proposed the drafting of a road map to secure the release of Aung
San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), and resume
political dialogue between all concerned parties in Burma.

In his inaugural speech on Saturday, Khin Nyunt laid out a seven-point
plan for a transition to national reconciliation and democracy, including
free and fair elections under a new constitution.

The junta intelligence chief, regarded as a moderate leader in Burmese
politics, was named prime minister last week.

He replaced Than Shwe, who was labelled by analysts as ageing, indecisive
and conservative.

"As they have their own [road map], our duty is merely to support them.
Thailand will encourage any moves that are useful for Burma," Thaksin
said.

"We praise and welcome the Burmese road map and support moves towards
national reconciliation and democracy."

Over the last few months, Thaksin and Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai called for international participation in a road map to peace.

On May 30, Burma came under international pressure and sanctions after the
military junta imprisoned Suu Kyi and other key opposition leaders.

The Thai road map idea lost momentum weeks before the recent power shift
in Burma, after Rangoon seemed to give the proposal the cold shoulder.

Khin Nyunt did not commit to a time frame for the road map and failed to
confirm if the NLD, whose landslide election victory in 1990 was ignored
by the military, would participate in the process.

Thaksin said the speed of the process depended on cooperation from all sides.

"It will happen quickly if everybody sits together and helps."

He urged all parties, including minority rebels and the international
community, to support Khin Nyunt's road map.

Thailand would not provide a forum for negotiations because the Burmese
National Convention, the constitution-drafting body established in 1993,
already included all relevant parties, he said.

Khin Nyunt blamed the NLD's 1995 withdrawal from the process for the
National Convention's failure to finish the drafting of the constitution.

International delegates present at Saturday's announcement said Khin Nyunt
did not offer to hold talks with Suu Kyi.


Bangkok Post   September 2, 2003
OFFICIAL VISIT: Chavalit to brief China on Burma – Talks to include drug
suppression
By Wassana Nanuam

Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh will discuss Burma's problems
with Chinese leaders during his five-day visit to China.

Gen Chavalit said before leaving for China yesterday that he would meet
Chinese President Hu Jintao, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Chinese
military leaders to discuss several issues including problems in Burma.

Asked about Rangoon's decision to draft its own road map for democracy
instead of adopting the one proposed by Thailand, Gen Chavalit said Burma
just wanted to be left alone and allowed to solve its problems in its own
way.

Other countries should not rush to criticise what Burma was doing, since
there was a good sign it was trying to bring about national
reconciliation, he said.

Burma, under strong pressure from the international community, would have
to make political changes or it would suffer a lot of economic and
financial repercussions, he added.

``I hope Burma will not return to the old regime or starting point again.
There should be power-sharing.

``I hope our friend Burma will understand that. We are speeding up the
process,'' Gen Chavalit said.

He believed Burma's new prime minister, Gen Khin Nyunt, would allow all
parties to take part in running the country or there would never be real
democracy in that country.

Gen Chavalit said he would also consult the Chinese leadership during his
visit about drug and crime suppression cooperation, as well as the North
Korean issue which could affect the entire Asian region.

A source said Gen Maung Aye, Burma's army chief and vice-chairman of the
ruling junta, had visited China two weeks before Gen Khin Nyunt was
appointed prime minister on Aug 25.

Gen Chavalit left for Beijing yesterday with a 25-member delegation,
including Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhya and the three
armed forces chiefs.

Gen Chavalit was scheduled to meet Chinese premier Wen and Gen Xiong
Guangkai, deputy army chief-of-staff, yesterday.

The Thai delegates will today meet Chinese president Hu, Gen Cao
Gangchuan, central military commission vice-chairman, and former defence
minister Gen Chi Haotian.

Tomorrow, Gen Thammarak and the armed forces chiefs will witness a
demonstration of China's weaponry, meet Science, Technology and National
Defence Minister Zhang Yunchuan, and visit the historical town of Xian.


Kaladan News   September 2, 2003
Border trade with Burma halts on trader strike

Cox’s Bazar, September 2: Border trade between Bangladesh and Burma came
to a halt yesterday as traders at the frontier went on an indefinite
strike to protest harassment by law enforcers while transporting goods
through the Teknaf (border Town) Highway, according to UNB, Cox’s Bazar.

Importers, C&F agents and Transport Owners-Employees' Unity enforced the
strike as authorities failed to meet their 10-point demand by the deadline
on Sunday, it further said. Their demands include stoppage of BDR
(Bangladesh Rifles) activities in the government declared customs area,
shifting of trading points to specified places and re-establishing the
supremacy of the Customs along the border belt.

Trade between Bangladesh and Burma across the river Naf in Teknaf yields
daily revenue of about Tk one million. In July, the government earned Tk
thirty million from border trade in Teknaf area.


Xinhua General News Service   September 2, 2003
China reiterates mutual respect for sovereignty, independence

MANILA, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) --A top Chinese delegate to the Association of
Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) General Assembly Tuesday reiterated the
importance of mutual respect for sovereignty and independence to peace and
security.

"International security and stability cannot be maintained and
international relations cannot develop on a sound basis unless there is
mutual respect for sovereignty and independence," Wang Yunlong, deputy
secretary general of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress,
said at an AAPP workshop here.

"In recent years, some arguments challenging sovereign independence have
surfaced, such as the doctrines of 'sovereignty being outdated' and
'limited sovereignty,'" Wang said.

He noted these arguments and ideas have often served as pretexts of some
countries for interfering in other countries' internal affairs, and
especially for using force against others, which have fundamentally
contravened the principle of state sovereignty and endangered
international security and stability and therefore not been endorsed by
the international community.

Wang said sovereignty is the intrinsic nature of a country as well as the
basis on which international relations depend for their existence and
development and Charter of the United Nations set forth the principle of
the sovereign equality of all its members, which the United Nations and
its members shall abide by.

"In the meantime, sovereignty is the basis for international relations,
and national sovereign independence does not reject the development of
international relations," he said.

Wang added while a country can accede to any treaty and join any
international organization on a voluntary basis, it shall abide by the
universally recognized principles of international law so that its
sovereign rights will be kept within certain bounds.

"As the economic globalization and regional integration grow,
state-to-state cooperation will be further intensified and mutual links
will be closer. Yet this does not mean that countries will give up their
sovereign independence and the status of sovereignty as the intrinsic
nature of a country and the cornerstone for international relations will
remain unchanged," he said.

"China stands for and pursues the principle of sovereign equality. While
it cherishes its own state sovereignty, China respects that of others,"
Wang said.

He noted that as early as in the 1950s, China, together with India,
Myanmar and other Asian neighbors, initiated the Five Principles of
Peaceful Coexistence, the first principle of which is mutual respect for
sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"China will, as always, take mutual respect for sovereignty and
independence as the basis for developing relations with other countries in
the new historical period," Wang said.

The fourth AAPP General Assembly opened here on Monday and four workshops
were held Tuesday to discuss political issues, economic development, peace
and security and Women and youth.


----INTERNATIONAL----

Agence France Presse   September 2, 2003
UN "deeply disturbed" over reported hunger strike of Myanmar's Suu Kyi

The UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar said Tuesday he was "deeply
disturbed" over reports that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is on
hunger strike to protest her detention since May.

"The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation
in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, is deeply disturbed by reports that
Aung San Suu Kyi is on hunger strike," he said in a statement.

"Although restrictions on information make it impossible to confirm this
news, the Special Rapporteur remains gravely concerned by the continued
detention of Aung San Suu Kyi in an undisclosed location, as well as by
the impact of her confinement on her safety and health."

The Myanmar military junta on Monday denied reports by the US government
that Suu Kyi, detained in late May after violent confrontations between
supporters of her National League for Democracy and pro-government
militants, was refusing food.

The US State Department, without revealing its sources, said the Nobel
peace laureate had begun a hunger strike to protest her detention at an
undisclosed location. Authorities in Myanmar have dismissed the claim.

Pinheiro called once again on the goverment to free the popular opposition
leader.

"The Special Rapporteur reiterates his earlier appeals to the government
of Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi immediately and unconditionally,
and underlines once again the Government's responsibility for her
protection and safety," the statement said.


L.A. Times   September 2, 2003
State Officials to Press Unocal
California and New York finance chiefs will urge the firm to exit its
Myanmar project.
By Elizabeth Douglass, Times Staff Writer

Stepping up the pressure on Unocal Corp., the top financial officers of
California and New York will ask the company today to abandon its
controversial joint venture in Myanmar or offer proof that the natural gas
pipeline project's value outweighs its risks.

California Treasurer Phil Angelides and New York State Comptroller Alan G.
Hevesi will deliver that message to Unocal Chief Financial Officer Terry
Dallas in a meeting this afternoon at the company's El Segundo
headquarters.

The ruling military junta in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been
condemned by the international community for alleged human rights
violations and the continued imprisonment of pro-democracy leader and
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The United States, the United Nations and others have denounced conditions
in the country and imposed a variety of trade sanctions, and some
international firms have stopped doing business there.

Angelides, Hevesi and representatives of eight investment funds requested
the meeting with Unocal in a May 15 letter delivered to the company at its
annual meeting. The group, which collectively owns about 1.6% of the oil
company's common shares, includes the California Public Employees'
Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System,
the nation's No. 1 and No. 3 public pension funds.

CalPERS board President Sean Harrigan will appear with Angelides and
Hevesi at a news conference after the Unocal meeting, along with
investment officials for the AFL-CIO and Amalgamated Bank.

Angelides, California's top investment official, is considered an
outspoken and influential member of the boards of the state's two major
pension plans. He has been involved in shareholder efforts to link
executive pay to performance and to prohibit state investments in U.S.
corporations that relocate or establish themselves offshore to avoid taxes
and weaken shareholder protections.

The Myanmar issue, he said, "has gained significant momentum" since Unocal
was targeted with its first shareholder resolution on the matter in 2001.

"There is rising shareholder concern about this," Angelides said of
Unocal's involvement in Myanmar.

"It's deeply troubling, not just from an economic standpoint, which
concerns us as shareholders, but also from what I see as management's
avoidance of responsibility and a failure to come to grips with the
implications — economic, reputational and moral — of their continued
presence in Burma."

Unocal spokesman Barry Lane said the company has not changed its mind
about Myanmar.

"We are not leaving Myanmar. We're not divesting there," he said.

Lane said Unocal was honoring the request for a meeting with the two
officials because they represent shareholders. "We take meetings with
stockholders all the time," he said. "And we take them seriously because
they're owners of the company."

The company's involvement stems from its investment, through subsidiaries,
of about $280 million to help develop a natural gas field off the Myanmar
coast and transport the gas to Thailand through a pipeline that crosses
southern Myanmar for 39 miles. Unocal has a 28.26% interest in the
project, which is run by the French oil firm Total Fina Elf.

A group of Myanmar refugees filed lawsuits in the U.S. against Unocal in
1996, accusing the company of indirect liability for the alleged murder,
rape and enslavement of villagers along the pipeline by the military
junta's commercial arm. Unocal, which denies responsibility for alleged
actions by the military, faces potential trials in both state and federal
court.

"We're confident that we're going to prevail," Lane said of the suits.

The pension fund representatives fear potentially expensive liability for
Unocal. Angelides said he and New York's Hevesi would ask Unocal to
withdraw from Myanmar or provide a cost-benefit analysis that proves that
the project is worth the risk to the company.

"It's not only troubling, it's puzzling to the rest of us as to why
management is hanging on to this," said Julie Gresham, director of
corporate governance for Hevesi's office.

Hevesi and Angelides view the meeting today as a "first step" in
convincing Unocal to change course in Myanmar, Angelides said.

He noted that recent corporate scandals have sparked renewed activism by
shareholder groups, which increasingly are sponsoring shareholder
resolutions about corporate governance, social issues and executive
compensation.

"We have many tools as shareholders," Angelides said.


----EDITORIALS----

The Irrawaddy   September 02, 2003
New Approach to Combat the Rhetoric
By Sai Wansai

Barely had the speculation formed over Gen Khin Nyunt’s first public
speech as Burma’s prime minister when the junta’s mouthpiece newspaper
Kyemon blamed the opposition for the country’s political impasse. The
opposition National League for Democracy’s (NLD) boycott of the National
Convention constitution drafting assembly in 1995 "has been the reason why
a parliamentary democracy government has still not emerged 13 years after
the election was held," the paper argued, referring to the 1990 elections
which the NLD won, but the military ignored.

Khin Nyunt has made clear his intentions to restart the stalled 1993
National Convention, followed by the drafting of a State Constitution,
holding a referendum and finally, holding a nationwide election. The only
trouble is that no timeframe was specified in his policy declaration.

Whatever the case, it is now quite obvious that this whole circus is just
another replay of the old one, which has been the standard tactic of the
junta for years now. As policy, the junta has declared it is taking the
lead and will set the political agenda to its own liking and space. Those
who agree with the plan are welcome; objectors will be left out of the
process altogether.

Thus, Khin Nyunt’s policy statement could be taken as a declaration of war
on the democratic and ethnic opposition camps and a clear rejection of the
UN resolution which calls for a "tripartite dialogue" between the NLD, the
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and non-Burman ethnic
nationalities. It also challenges the EU and US’s positions of
all-inclusive power sharing through negotiation.

This speech is, in fact, a manifesto that the military regime is
determined to cling to power at all costs and will not bow to pressure
from any quarter. By issuing its intention to restart the National
Convention, the SPDC is clearly just trying to buy time and perhaps get
the West to soften sanctions as a result.

The NLD, on the other hand, sees itself as a party that has the mandate
and legitimacy to govern and draft the constitution. The NLD emerged the
overwhelming victor in the 1990 nationwide elections, winning over 80
percent of the seats. However, the military government has refused to
relinquish power.

The reason the NLD walked out of the National Convention in November 1995
is because of the guidelines imposed on all the participants. The essence
of those guidelines include provisions such as of the three people who
hold the offices of the president and the vice presidents, at least one
person must be from the military. They also include the regulation that
the military must appoint 25 percent of the seats in both the upper and
lower houses. Thus, the military clearly plans to continue to intervene in
and oversee Burmese politics. For the NLD, who appeals for a politically
neutral Army, it is impossible to accept these guidelines.

The National Convention, which began in January 1993, has been adjourned
now for more than seven years, since March 1996. In such circumstances, it
will be as difficult as ever for the international community to bring
about a lasting solution in this deeply divided society. Perhaps, it is
time the UN, EU and US should alter their game plans and introduce
something new. Since the junta’s self-help approach to conflict resolution
is, in large part, aimed at achieving supremacy over all contenders, it is
never going to be acceptable to all parties.

But if the UN, in collaboration with well-meaning and concerned parties
such as the US, UK, and some Association of Southeast Asian Nation
countries, formed a power mediation team, the conflict in Burma might
stand a chance to be resolved. Burma’s conflict resolution or
reconciliation could only happen with the involvement of "power
mediation"—a term advanced by the Institute for Democracy and Electoral
Assistance in its book titled Democracy and Deep-Rooted Conflict: Options
for Negotiators—where the mediator has the power to persuade the parties
to obey. It could use incentives and punishments to persuade the parties
to yield from their inflexible positions to reach a compromise.

If the ongoing armed conflicts, economic woes and repression are any
indication, decades of "self-help" conflict resolution approaches and
other "homegrown" reconciliation remedies have not been fruitful in Burma.
The international community might as well try a new approach to power
mediation if it really cares to deliver the people of Burma out of their
present misery.

Sai Wansai is the General Secretary of the Shan Democratic Union.


The Guardian (London)   September 2, 2003
Leading article: Goons in Rangoon: Concern increases over Burmese leader

There should be little doubt that the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi grows
more desperate by the day. The only national leader in Burma worthy of the
name has been held under some form of detention for more than half the 13
years since her National League for Democracy's landslide election victory
was annulled. During that time she has suffered from periods of
ill-health, has been barred effectively from travelling abroad, has lost
her British husband, Michael Aris, and has been the target of unrelenting
intimidation by Burma's military junta. After her most recent arrest last
May, amid much violence, Ms Suu Kyi, aged 58, is said to have been held
initially at Insein prison near Rangoon in what the UN calls "absolutely
deplorable" conditions. She has since been allowed but two visits by
independent observers - a UN envoy and then a Red Cross representative in
July. Foreign office efforts to contact her have been rebuffed. Nobody
outside the junta now knows exactly where she is.

Britain believes Ms Suu Kyi is being held under section 10a of the
notorious 1975 "state protection law" that allows detention of an
individual without trial, or contact with family or lawyers, for up to
five years. There is no doubt about Ms Suu Kyi's courage. But the strain
on her must be close to insupportable. The US government reported at the
weekend that she has begun a hunger strike. Its expression of "deep
concern for her safety and wellbeing" is well-founded.

Many hundreds, perhaps thousands of pro-democracy activists also languish
in in Burma's gulag. They must not be forgotten, either, no more than must
the ordinary Burmese who lives are blighted by avoidable poverty and
repression. But it is Ms Suu Kyi who has become a unique symbol of her
benighted country's struggle for justice. The junta's denial of the hunger
strike report, like its disingenuous plan for a "road map to democracy",
should be dismissed with contempt. The new prime minister who peddles this
deception, Khin Nyunt, is just another jumped-up general who has never
fought a battle in his life but is a veritable Napoleon when it comes to
oppressing defenceless civilians. Tougher US sanctions came into effect
last week; UK campaigners' efforts to cut western business, investment and
tourism links are gaining ground. But how long before Burma's neighbours
show similar determination to end this regional disgrace and, perhaps,
save Ms Suu Kyi?


The Age (Melbourne)   September 3,
No One Should Indulge Burma's Generals

A united front is essential to secure Aung San Suu Kyi's release as a
prelude to serious talks.

It is a sad measure of the lack of progress towards democracy in Burma
that detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi should again be on a
hunger strike. Eleven years ago, it was her late husband, Michael Aris,
who announced she had taken such action in a bid to compel the military
regime to free her. This week, the news came from the US State Department.
Ms Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy leadership have been back
in detention since the regime engineered a violent confrontation in May
and the timing of her hunger strike is seen as a repudiation of its
revival of a discredited program of reform. The regime's announcement this
week made no mention of Ms Suu Kyi, save to blame her for the collapse of
talks in 1996. In the same way as Nelson Mandela was central to a
settlement in South Africa, no "road map" - as the regime unblushingly
called its plan - can have any credibility without Ms Suu Kyi's
involvement from the start. The regime's contempt for criticism since it
rejected the league's landslide election win in 1990 leaves little doubt
that its plan and the naming of a supposed moderate, General Khin Nyunt,
as prime minister are in response to the tightening of sanctions led by
the US, Europe and Japan.

Australia, which has persisted with a policy of limited engagement,
emerges with little credit in all this. Burmese officials still describe
Australia as a friend (though not nearly as good a friend as China). Since
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer made an ill-advised visit to Rangoon
last October, Australia has fallen further out of step by refusing to
apply sanctions even after Ms Suu Kyi was detained again. Japan, Burma's
most important donor and a country often cited as sharing Australia's
approach, has suspended almost all aid. After US Secretary of State Colin
Powell argued that continued engagement undermined sanctions, even the
non-interventionist ASEAN warned Burma it could face expulsion. The
reason, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said, was that "what
they have done has affected us, our credibility". This applies to
Australia, too. Despite suspending human rights training for Burma's
military, Australia has not made contact conditional upon Ms Suu Kyi's
release. Mr Downer now says her continued detention is surprising. It
shouldn't be. Engagement has been tried for many years by Japan and ASEAN,
and by the US since 2000. No evidence of positive change exists to support
a continuing policy of engagement, as the US charge d'affaires in Burma
from 1999 to 2002, Priscilla Clark, wrote in The Washington Post in July,
soon after the US tightened sanctions. At the time, the White House
stated: "This legislation sends a clear message to the Burmese regime that
their continued detention of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and
their assaults on freedom cannot stand." The Australian Government should
not be leaving any room for confusion about this message.


----STATEMENTS----

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office   September 1, 2003
MIKE O’BRIEN STATEMENT ON REPORTS THAT AUNG SAN SUU KYI MAY BE ON HUNGER
STRIKE

Foreign Office Minister Mike O’Brien said:

“I am deeply concerned by reports from the US State Department that
Burma’s democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held in
detention since 30 May, may be on hunger strike.

“Today I spoke with the Burmese Ambassador Dr Kyaw Win and called on the
Burmese regime to release Aung San Suu Kyi immediately.  It is in the
interests of the regime to release her, not only for her welfare, but also
for the process of national reconciliation in Burma.

“I told the Ambassador that the British government holds the Burmese
authorities responsible for Aung San Suu Kyi’s health and welfare.  It is
now exactly three months since Aung San Suu Kyi was detained under
measures that were described by the regime as “temporary,” after she and
her supporters were attacked in a deliberate and pre-meditated way.

“Dr Kyaw Win said that he had been told that reports of Aung San Suu Kyi’s
hunger strike were untrue.  I told him that the only way we could be sure
if the reports were true would be if the International Committee of the
Red Cross could visit Aung San Suu Kyi as soon as possible.  Dr Kyaw Win
undertook to pass this on.”