BurmaNet News, Dec 11, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

Dec 11, 2003 Issue # 2385


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Experts slam Myanmar junta for rebuilding Bagan temples with fanciful
designs
AFP: Tourism arrivals jump 27.34 percent in Myanmar: junta

ON THE BORDER
Shan: Border to be opened for dam construction

BUSINESS / MONEY
Xinhua: Myanmar seeks OPEC aid for edible oil project

REGIONAL
AFP: Thai deputy PM says Myanmar must change its attitude to world
AP: More protests held against Myanmar leader at summit in Japan
Nation: Burma will attend democracy forum
Irrawaddy: Burma Seeks Japan’s Help

INTERNATIONAL
Independent: Tale of rape and murder on Burmese pipeline haunts US

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: KNU Ceasefire: A Bargaining Ideal?
Shan: Strategy of the Junta and How to Repulse
Nation: Japan needs to court Asean wisely

STATEMENT
Worldviewrights: Media statement of Mr. Lim Kit Siang, DAP

BRIEFING
U.S. Department of State, Daily Press Briefing: Burmese Roadmap



INSIDE BURMA
___________________________________

Dec 11, Associated Press
Experts slam Myanmar junta for rebuilding Bagan temples with fanciful designs

Myanmar's military junta has inflicted irreparable damage to one of Asia's
most important archaeological sites by rebuilding hundreds of temple ruins
in fanciful designs, experts said Thursday.

Virtually every temple at the 1,000-year-old Buddhist site at Bagan in
central Myanmar has been rebuilt with modern bricks and mortar in designs
that "are conjectural at best and fictious at worst," said Donald
Stadtner, a leading expert on Bagan.

"It is a joke," he said.

Many rich Myanmar citizens, officials and foreigners paid for the
reconstruction so that the new pagodas rising up from the ancient mounds
are named after them, said Pierre Pichard of the French Research School of
the Far East.

He and Stadtner gave a joint lecture on Bagan at Thailand's National Musuem.

Plaques outside the rebuilt temples name the patrons, who include a group
of postal workers from Yokohama, Japan, said Stadtner.

"It is an elitist form of patronage. What they are doing is selling these
mounds of ruins. Really, they are offering spiritual salvation in a
religious Disneyland," he said.

The government began rebuilding in 1996, hoping that new temples would
spur tourism and bring foreign currency to a country shunned by the West
because of its anti-democracy policies.

This mixture of politics and piety has left "concrete monstrosities" and
"a disaster for historians," said Stadtner, an American researcher
specializing in Indian and Southeast Asian art.

The junta dismisses the concerns.

In an interview last month in Bagan, Nyunt Han, director general of the
national Department of Archaeology, denied that the reconstruction was
inaccurate.

He told The Associated Press that his department has old documents and
plans that provide for precise reconstruction.

In all, more than 4,400 pagodas and 3,000 other religious structures of
bricks and stones were built in Bagan, Myanmar's former capital, during a
243-year period from the 11th to 13th centuries.

By the 20th century, only 2,237 temples, most of them in ruins, remained
in the 80-square kilometer (31-square mile) area. Several were further
damaged or destroyed by an earthquake in 1975. There were no records of
how the temples would have looked like in their glory days.

It is known only that Bagan builders experimented with various styles
while making the temples, including topping them with corncob "shikharas"
imported from India and graceful circular "chedis" of Sri Lanka.

However, the junta's reconstruction created a uniform landscape of
stereotyped tops and facades that may bear no resemblance to the original,
the two experts said.

He said the reconstruction is also aimed at winning the support of
uneducated peasants, who have traditionally associated religious and
infrastructure projects with kings and rulers.

Myanmar's junta came in for more international criticism this year when it
started building a 60-meter (198-feet) high viewing tower in the
archaeological site.

The junta has turned a deaf ear to global concerns about the degradation
of Bagan, including complaints by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization.
_____________________________

Dec 11, Agence France Presse
Tourism arrivals jump 27.34 percent in Myanmar: junta

Tourism arrivals in military-ruled Myanmar jumped 27.34 percent to 277,647
from April to October this year compared to the same period in 2002, the
junta said in a statement Thursday.

The rise occurred despite the international outcry over the junta's
detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in May after a pro-junta
gang ambushed her supporters during a political tour in the north.

Of the arrivals, 31.4 percent visited Yangon, the northern city of
Mandalay or ancient Bagan, while the remainder visited towns such as Muse
near the Chinese border and Kawthaung, Tachilek and Myawaddy near the Thai
frontier.

The arrivals were not broken down by country but the destinations visited
suggest that most of the arrivals came from China or Thailand.

Myanmar's junta sees the tourism industry as an important source of
foreign exchange to boost the country's economy, which is in tatters due
to decades of economic mismanagement and ongoing international sanctions.

Sanctions were toughened by the United States and the European Union
following Aung San Suu Kyi's detention while new economic aid was
suspended by Japan, the regime's largest donor.

The Nobel peace laureate's National League for Democracy party supports a
ban on tourism to the country until the government introduces democratic
reforms.


ON THE BORDER
____________________________________

Dec 10, Shan
Border to be opened for dam construction

Sources on the border and Chiangmai have confirmed that Border Post BP-1
checkpoint, closed since May last year, was to be reopened temporarily on
12 December for the transfer of construction materials at the Tasang dam
site on the Salween.

"The customs houses on both the Thai and Burmese sides are being
repaired," said a trader from Nawng Ook village, in Chiangmai's Chiangdao
district, facing Burma's Mongton township. "The anti tank dicth on Burma's
side that was dug up during the Thailand'sSurasi war games has also been
filled in by Sia Ord."

Sia Ord, whose full Thai name is Somkid Oonman, is a sub-contractor
working for the MDX Group that had already won a "agreement" on 20
December 2002 to build a 3,300 megawatt dam in Tasang, between Mongton on
the east bank and Mongpan on the west bank in Shan State.

A military source confirmed the reports saying, "The Burmese have also
cleared minefields along the transport route. Some 200 land-mines were
said to have been uncovered and defused. Of course, that's only a quarter
of the total number of mines suspected to be there."

The reopening of the checkpoint was reportedly ordered by Chaingmai
governor Suwat Tantipat.

The Shan State Army of Col Yawdserk is not happy about the latest
development, according to an insider source, though it has so far
maintained a beat-about-the-bush policy that the decision rests with the
people of Shan State. Its 727th Brigade, commanded by Maj Ternkhurh, who
was "shouldered" out of his Doikham stronghold by the Thai Army in
October, is said to be "very active" in the area.

"The MDX has been trying to contact him," said the SSA source. "But he has
yet to respond to any of their requests to cooperate with the dam
project."


BUSINESS / MONEY
____________________________________

Dec 11, Xinhua News Agency
Myanmar seeks OPEC aid for edible oil project

Myanmar is seeking assistance from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) to start an edible oil project, the local Business Tank
reported in its December issue published here Thursday.

The project has been under research since September by the Department of
Agriculture Planning (DAP) of the Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and
Irrigation in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) to win aid from the OPEC, the report said.

The research findings of the proposed project will be submitted to the
OPEC for approval at a meeting to be held next March, the DAP was quoted
as saying.

Once endorsed, a five-year project for edible oil production will be
established with a low-cost loan of 11 million US dollars provided by the
OPEC, the report said.

Two modern 100-ton edible oil mills in northern Mandalay division and
central Magway division respectively and one 50-ton oil mill in southern
Shan state would be built under the project, it said.

In September, the Myanmar ministry signed an agreement with the FAO in
Yangon on technical cooperation for sufficiency of edible oil in the
country.

In 2002, Myanmar reduced import of edible oil as the cultivation of oil
crops of groundnut, sesame and sunflower in three arid divisions of
Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway in central Myanmar was expanded with a total
cultivated area reaching 2.6 million hectares. It also increased the
cultivated area of oil palm to 43,301.8 hectares in southern Tanintharyi
division during the year.

According to the latest figures of the Central Statistical Organization,
the country imported 60 million US dollars of edible oil in 2002.

Myanmar produces some 380,000 tons of edible oil a year, accounting for 76
percent of the country's total demand.


REGIONAL
____________________________

Dec 11, AFP
Thai deputy PM says Myanmar must change its attitude to world

A senior Thai minister said Thursday that Myanmar must change its attitude
towards the rest of the world and begin serious negotiations with its
opposition to bring about development in the country.

Speaking ahead of a Thai-hosted international forum next Monday at which
Myanmar will explain its democracy "road map", deputy prime minister
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said the regime needed to soften its stance towards
the outside world.

"No one wants to be involved in their internal affairs but if Myanmar
keeps its tough attitude towards the world community, it will be difficult
for them to live with each other," he said.

"If Myanmar keeps its attitude like this, it is not good, it is not right."

The minister said Thailand had long supported negotiations on a shift to
democracy taking place between Yangon, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and the country's ethnic minority groups.

"Negotiations are the only way to bring peace to the country... The
meeting (next week) is at least one step towards bringing development and
peace to Myanmar," he added.

The half-day meeting is expected to be attended by Myanmar foreign
minister Win Aung and representatives from Austria, Britain, China,
France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore
and Thailand.

Myanmar's democracy plan was announced by Prime Minister General Khin
Nyunt in August in the midst of an international furore over its detention
of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The first step of the plan involves holding a national convention to write
a new constitution, in which Yangon has been trying to involve ethnic
groups, and eventually to hold "free and fair" elections.

Western observers have scoffed at the plan, saying it does not include any
timeframe for reform and fails to include specific mention of Aung San Suu
Kyi and her National League for Democracy party.

But some analysts have more recently said that behind the scenes the junta
appears to be working towards democratic reforms by 2006. The Myanmar
regime also said last month it was in regular contact with Aung San Suu
Kyi.
_______________________________

Dec 11, Associated Press
More protests held against Myanmar leader at summit in Japan

Protesters demanded the release of Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi on
Thursday, as the leader of Myanmar's military regime attended a summit
between Japan and Southeast Asian leaders.

Two small rallies, held near the Foreign Ministry and the state guest
house where the two-day summit began Thursday, drew a few dozen
demonstrators. Most were Myanmar citizens living in Japan.

The protests were peaceful and no arrests were reported.

Myanmar activists have held several rallies this week to protest the
participation of Gen. Khin Nyunt, the prime minister of Myanmar's military
regime, in the summit between Japan and the 10-country Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.

"The human rights situation is deteriorating" in Myanmar, said activist
Kyaw Kyaw Soe. "Everybody knows what is happening ... and how (the
military leaders) are lying to the international community."

Kyaw Kyaw Soe said he hoped Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who
was to meet Khin Nyunt Friday for bilateral talks, will demand the release
of pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi and all political prisoners and push for
human rights.

Japan had been Myanmar's largest aid donor, but relations between the two
have cooled over the past several months.

Japan suspended economic assistance in June after the military government
detained Suu Kyi following a clash between her supporters and a pro-junta
mob on May 30. In September she was transferred to her lakeside villa in
the capital, Yangon, where she remains under house arrest.

At an ASEAN summit on Indonesia's Bali island in October, Koizumi pressed
Khin Nyunt to release the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Though Yangon insists the issue is a domestic matter, Tokyo has said it
won't resume aid until it sees progress in the restoration of democracy in
Myanmar.

ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

_______________________________

Dec 11, Nation
Burma will attend democracy forum

Burma will attend Monday's international forum on democracy in the
country, the government spokesman said yesterday.

Although Burma's Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win has said that
Burma should not bow to international pressure by attending the talks,
this is not the official position of the Rangoon government, said new
Government Spokesman Chakrapop Penkae.

"Burma's Foreign Minister Win Aung will surely attend the meeting," said
Chakrapop. "All participants have high hopes that it will bring a solution
to the political problems of the country."

Representatives from Austria, France, Italy, China, Japan and members of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are expected at the Bangkok
meeting, which will focus on the political problems in Burma and how it
can move toward democracy.

Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai will host a dinner for the
participants on Sunday and will conduct preparatory talks with the
international representatives, excluding Burma, on Monday morning.

The meeting will officially start at about 2.30pm at the Foreign Ministry
after the delegates call on Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Later,
there will be a briefing for a representative of Italy, the European
Union's rotating leader, followed by a Foreign Ministry-hosted dinner.

Soe Aung
_______________________________

Dec 11, Irrawaddy
Burma Seeks Japan’s Help

Burma’s Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt is meeting with the Japanese prime
minister and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)
countries in Tokyo today. He is seeking assistance from Japan and regional
countries to improve the political and economic situation in Burma.

Japan is expected to sign a regional security agreement and discuss
combating piracy with Asean leaders during the Japan-Asean Commemorative
Summit being held in Tokyo today and tomorrow.

Khin Nyunt told the Japan Broadcasting Corp (NHK) on Monday that he wished
Japan would earmark more economic assistance for his country. "To push for
the democratization of our country, it is important that we build a solid
economic foundation," he said. "Japan’s current economic assistance is not
enough, but I believe Japan would extend a helping hand."

“Japan’s current economic assistance is not enough, but I believe Japan
would extend a helping hand.” – Khin Nyunt

Japan suspended economic assistance to Burma in June, after the military
government detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi following a clash
between her supporters and a pro-junta mob on May 30. In September, Suu
Kyi was transferred to house arrest at her lakeside villa in Rangoon.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is scheduled to meet Khin Nyunt
and expected to relay his concern over the junta’s treatment of the
opposition leader.

Japan is Asean’s second-largest trading partner and investor, after the
US. The group’s trade with Japan was worth an estimated US $122.9 billion
in 2002. Japan supplied 60 percent of the region’s overseas aid in 2001.

According to the Japanese daily The Daily Yomiuri, Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi will announce that Japan is giving US $1.5 billion to
support the economic development of the Mekong Basin, which includes
Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

This year’s Tokyo summit marks 30 years of Asean-Japan ties. Leaders will
review the relationship and set their direction for the future.


INTERNATIONAL
____________________________

Dec 11, The Independent (London)
Tale of rape and murder on Burmese pipeline haunts US
Andrew Gumbel

The United States oil giant Unocal sought to deny responsibility yesterday
for alleged murders, rapes and torture associated with an oil pipeline
project in Burma.

The case is being seen as a legal landmark for human rights campaigners
wanting to hold multinationals accountable for their business decisions.

Unocal, which has been based in California for seven years, argued that
the case should never have come to court in the US because responsibility
for criminal behaviour associated with the $ 1.2bn pipeline lay with its
subsidiaries in Burma.

Daniel Petrocelli, the lawyer who represents Unocal, told a Los Angeles
federal court: "If the subs can pay, the case goes away. That's the
beginning and end of this trial." The plaintiffs argue that Unocal is
responsible for alleged atrocities by the Burmese military along the
Yadana natural gas pipeline, which stretches from the Andaman Sea to the
border with Thailand.

They say that the subsidiaries have no autonomy and provide the parent
company with no legal protection.

Judith Chomsky, the lawyer who represents one of the plaintiffs, said:
"These are sham corporations created solely to allow Unocal to hide from
liability."

One of the other plaintiff lawyers, Terry Collingsworth, told the court:
"The plaintiffs sued the right parties because the Unocal parents are
responsible for what happened to them.... This is not about who you
collect from, it's about whose responsibility this is."

This is the first time a corporation has stood trial in the US for alleged
offences in another country.

The plaintiffs - 14 Burmese villagers, whose identities have been kept
secret, and a US campaigner for the group Earth Rights International - are
invoking an ancient US tort law used to combat piracy.

The Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 has, more recently, been used against
disgraced generals and deposed despots such as Ferdinand Marcos and
Radovan Karadzic.

It is being adapted to pursue corporations on the basis that they are
liable for criminal activity carried out in their name.

The outcome of the Unocal trial could have profound implications for
dozens of corporations accused of tolerating human rights abuses in remote
areas of the Third World.

The case has already spooked the White House, which has filed a friend-
of-the-court brief on Unocal's behalf arguing that the suit is a threat to
its war on terrorism.

The Bush administration has a policy of active support of overseas energy
projects by US corporations, many of whom have been generous Bush campaign
donors.

Ordering Unocal to stand trial in August, the federal judge Victoria
Chaney appeared to agree that Unocal knew what it was getting into.

She said: "Prior to its involvement... Unocal had specific knowledge that
the use of forced labour was likely, and nevertheless chose to proceed."

Judge Chaney has already ruled that the case cannot be tried under Burmese
law, siding with the plaintiffs' argument that since the establishment of
military rule there in 1988 there is no "effective rule of law".

She has also dismissed the suggestion that the case should go to Bermuda,
where one of the Unocal subsidiaries in question is registered.

The trial is expected to proceed in two phases. The first, which began on
Tuesday, will determine whether Unocal is liable for the behaviour of its
subsidiaries.

The second, which will go ahead regardless of the outcome of the first,
will look at alleged ties and responsibilities linking events in Burma
directly to Unocal executives.

The case was first brought in 1996 and the delay in initiating a trial is
an indication of how hard Unocal has fought to counter the accusations.

It has appealed every ruling and the legal battle is likely to reach to
the US Supreme Court if the case is not dismissed before then.

Dan Stormer, who represents another of the plaintiffs, said: "Unocal has
repeatedly tried to stop this case from going to trial and has lost at
every turn."


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

Dec 11, Mizzima
KNU Ceasefire: A Bargaining Ideal? By Aung Naing Oo

The Karen National Union (KNU), one of Burma’s biggest and most hard-line
armed ethnic groups, has held out against a truce with the Burmese
military regime for a long time. But presently it is facing the hardest
test of its existence: possible ceasefire with Rangoon. This is
being acerbated by the prospect of having to join the National Convention
it has staunchly opposed over the years.

But the Burmese regime’s proposal for a ceasefire also offers the ideal
bargaining position for the Karen. If the Karen play their cards right, it
may be worth their long wait.

The Karen’s dilemma, or rather their opportunity, began following the
unprecedented overture from the Burmese military regime in late November.
For the first time in many years, the Burmese junta sent one of its
high-ranking Military Intelligence officers, Col. San Pwint, accompanied
by two Thai high-ranking army officers, to meet the KNU directly, instead
of sending religious and other intermediaries that it often employs. In
order to demonstrate their seriousness about a truce with the Karen, San
Pwint even went to see the KNU’s army chief, General Saw Bo Mya, who is
known to have opposed a ceasefire with the regime.

So far, the KNU has entered into a temporary truce with the Burmese junta
on Wednesday. The decision was made following the return of a five-member
Karen delegation from Rangoon this week.

To enter a permanent truce or not with Rangoon is a question that the
Karen will have to answer soon. If the Karen eventually agree to a
ceasefire with Rangoon, it is highly likely that guns will be silent for
the first time in Burma since 1949 when the ethnic insurrection commenced.

This is because once the Karen join some fifteen armed ethnic groups that
have already entered truce with the junta, the remainder of the
non-ceasefire groups, such the Karenni and the Shan State Army, will have
to follow suit. It is unlikely that they will be able to withstand both
internal and external pressure, especially from the Thais, without the
Karen. In fact, the ripple effect will even reach organizations, such as
the New Mon State Party, that appear genuinely reluctant in
lending legitimacy to the Convention.

Nonetheless, a truce with the Karen will mean the greatest achievement for
the Burmese junta. It could then claim “peace at last” in the country. A
truce would also be invaluable propaganda both at home and abroad for the
regime. In addition, a Karen truce can induce a better relationship and
economic ties between Burma and Thailand, having finally put an end to
armed hostilities along the two nations’ common border in many decades.

Furthermore, a truce with the Karen will provide the Burmese junta
much-needed legitimacy in their current game plan. As the junta appears to
sideline pro-democracy groups, particularly the National League for
Democracy (NLD), in its roadmap, ethnic groups will serve as an
alternative source of legitimacy. Indeed, the Karen are an ethnic
heavyweight and comprise a big part of the ethnic contingent. They cannot
be left out of the loop.  The KNU is well aware of its value to the
generals in Rangoon.
So far no decision appears to have been made on the part of the Karen. It
is in the initial stages where a feasibility study is being carried out.
Though the Karen appear poised to enter a truce with the junta, it is not
yet known what the KNU will get in return for such a lucrative deal with
the regime, should the ceasefire be inked. But the KNU must realize the
gains as well as implications that it will create by entering a ceasefire
with Rangoon.

As the KNU has forged closer ties with the myriad of non-ceasefire ethnic
and pro-democracy groups, it should take into account the implications
that a truce will have on these groups. It should also consider the
ceasefire’s impact in the national political arena. Indeed, the bigger
picture is that the KNU will have to think through what its concession
with Rangoon means for the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi, and perhaps with
other ethnic political parties that have braced against incessant military
pressure.

The KNU’s reputation may be at stake nationally if the truce is signed and
nothing concrete is gained. The KNU should not forget the fact that it is
an inspiration for the Burmese who cannot fight the regime.  Although this
could be a natural psychological phenomenon in which someone who cannot
fight the enemy supports the one who can, a fruitless ceasefire can
downgrade the Karen’s political standing along with the Wa and several
groups that have in the eyes of the Burmese completely sold themselves out
to the regime.

Also, there is a probability that the KNU will be left out of the
Convention, and the roadmap altogether, if the Karen respond to the
military overture with a resounding “No”.  But whoever is in charge in
Rangoon will have to take the Karen on board at some point because they
are one of the biggest ethnic groups and national stakeholders. They
cannot be left out forever. The Karen should recall that South Africa’s
Inkatha Freedom Party had to eventually be allowed into the national
elections in 1994, despite its devastating boycott of the constitutional
negotiations between the Apartheid government and the African National
Congress.

For the time being, the Karen seem to be strategizing. But the Karen’s
answer will have to be either a qualified “YES” or resounding “NO”. 
Anything less would prove fatal to the Karen movement. Either way, if the
KNU leaders cannot keep their organization together, it will go down
the same old road it has before; more break-ups. Part of the KNU strategy
should be bringing the ceasefire negotiations out into the open, as the
junta is adept at using deception, secrecy and
divide-and-conquer tactics.

Previously, several ceasefire talks between the Burmese regime and the KNU
broke down. This was because neither side wanted to back down from their
demands. If the Karen decide to enter a ceasefire with the junta, they
should realize that they will not get what they have asked for in
the past. And the Burmese regime should know that it must come up with a
comprehensive offer, not just an invitation to Rangoon to “see the
situation for themselves” in order to get the Karen to Rangoon.

Indeed, truces are desirable especially if they serve as an integral part
of the reconciliation process. However, whether any truces with Rangoon
will lead to some kind of meaningful settlement with ethnic groups is very
much doubtful – given the status of previous ceasefire
agreements. The regime’s promise over the Convention has been very
wishy-washy. If the KNU cannot receive any concrete promises regarding the
political reform process from the junta – though not a 100% makeover of
the current system, which is impossible - they should think twice
about the deal.
____________________________________

Dec 11, Shan
Strategy of the Junta and How to Repulse -- Kanbawza Win

The Junta clearly sees the writings on the wall that their enemy Number
One, is the pro democracy groups led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. With a huge
following wherever she goes, it send cold chills through their spine and
comprehend that their days are numbered. In their desperation, they
embarked on the attempted assassination at Depayin. But Daw Suu was not
among the hundreds that were killed. Instead she gains more strength both
nationally and internationally. Hitherto, Japan, which has been quite
supportive to the Junta was now adamant and have aligned itself entirely
with the West. In the meantime UNGA has passed the resolution to make an
independent enquiry on the Depayin incident and this put the Junta between
the devil and the deep sea.

To weaken her, she must be separated from the ethnic cause and hence the
Junta approach one by one to the ethnic nationalities. The cease-fire
groups of Kachin, Wa, Mon and some Shan have fallen and Karen, the hope
and aspirations of the dissidents who has all the time being the vanguard
of standing up against tyrannical chauvinism has agreed to the Junta ‘s
term and have entered a ceasefire.  It will only a matter time before
Karenni, Chin, Arakanese and Southern Shan will follow suit. Khin Nyunt
has promised the Rohingyas full Burmese citizens provided they voted for
him and the end is clear.

The ethnic nationalities of Burma have seem to forgotten that if it is a
national convention, then firstly the people’s representative (NLD led by
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi) must be included and all ethnic nationalities should
not have accepted this invitation, if they are serious about it. Now, to
all intent it seems that Khin Nyunt is winning. The other aspect is that
the Junta plays a trump card with a logic that in the army there are the
doves and the hawks and if the ethnic nationalities did not catch the
bait, (attend the convention) the doves led by Khin Nyunt will be defeated
and more trouble, when in fact it was a trick, as Khin Nyunt and his group
are part and parcel of the military having monolithic unity. Being birds
of the same feathers, once, the Junta was able to persuade all the ethnic
organizations to participate the Junta is bound to pressure the NLD either
take-it-or-leave-it offer.

In the international arena he was able to nudge a wedge between the West
and the Asia by playing off the three most populous nations of the world,
China, India and Indonesia one another and slyly manage to oust out the
Americans in the coming Bangkok Road Map Forum for Democracy Conference.
The picture was that there are several countries (Saudi Arabia, China
Kuwait, Brunei etc) where American interests are at stake, who are
committing gross human rights violations and so why single out Burma? To
the Southeast Asian countries the Junta paints the picture of
Balkanization, that it is an ethnic cauldron that can easily boil over to
them and that if they don’t want to witness another Yugoslavia in their
midst, they must support them, for he alone can keep the country together,
no matter whatever he does. A sort of Machiavellian theory of  “the end
justifies the means.” Hence the Bangkok Road Map Forum for Democracy
Conference is a forgone conclusion.

The bottom line is that the Asian nations are afraid that if Burma gains
democracy, the innovative hard working Burmese farmers will drive the
price down of all their agriculture products and Burma would soon be their
main competitor as they had done prior to 1962. The Burmese people must be
suppressed and the best way is to maintain the Junta. Of course there are
well meaning people in Asian countries but their government would not let
them support the Burmese democracy movement and the classic example is
Singapore which cancelled the public talk organized by Alliance for Reform
and Democracy in Asia under the title of “How can Asia help Burma to
achieve democracy” at the last minute. It also refused the visa to Dr Tint
Swe, the exile government representative. This action seems to confirm the
report of several intelligence agencies that 80 percent of the
narco-dollars flowing into Burma are through the Singaporean banks.
Perhaps what Sam Rainsy said that one dictator helps another dictator
seems to be true.

As far as the Diaspora is concerned, the Junta did not need to do much
except to send some of the informers and sympathizers to organise the
Burmese community and maintain the NCGUB  (which they did in Fort Wayne
Conference) so that eligible and dedicated intelligentsia will be
excluded.

If this is the scenario what is our hope and how do we get out from this
quagmire? First what is our philosophy? The Junta is not in the category
of a civilize creature and will not let off the power until and unless it
was driven out by force (like Iraq and Yugoslavia). But the opposition’s
forces are too weak, and so we need a superpower to come to our aid in
getting democracy. Second, do we really study the American policy and
cater our need for this goal? The current Bush administration has realized
its folly of being a unilateralist and will not move anything without the
approval of the UN and so the UN became very crucial but here again Kofi
Aanan cannot move without the mandate from the Security Council.

What are our weak points? Every body is shouting “Unity” without lifting a
finger, let alone the ethnic nationals at the peripheral, just look at
those who are now residing in democratic countries e.g. Indianapolis and
Fort Wayne where thousands of Burmese dissidents reside. The Burman will
make friends with the Burman and the non-Burman with the non-Burman only.
Again the Chin and the Mon seldom meet. Living side by side they never
create a platform to meet each other and will never take the initiative,
e.g. the Chin community inviting the Burman Buddhist and Mon for Christmas
while the Burman inviting the Chin and the Mon for Thingyan festivals and
so forth, not to mention the trouble of explaining the difference between
the Burman and the successive military regimes that have embarked on an
ethnic cleansing policy. It never occurs to them to narrow down the
different perspectives, and yet we are hypocritically crying Pyidaungsu.
If we cannot create the Panglong spirit even among the grass root level
our words and actions does not match. Solidarity has to be worked out.

In the political level, what is ENSCC or the NRP doing, not to mention the
NDF, now that one after another the ethnic nationalities are jumping into
bandwagon of Khin Nyunt? Gone is the Kobenhavn Blue Ribbon Declaration
with a grandiose rhetoric of the Second Panglong Conference when not a
single pro-democracy activist Burman was invited (I attended the
conference and only the miserable NCGUB represented the Myanmar with no
one from Free Burma Coalition or any other Myanmar organization).

Hence our first task is to dismantle the NCGUB as they are incapable of
organizing the ethnic nationalities and the Diaspora and, unable to plan
strategies or implementing and lack of visions. The second task is to
select well dedicated, educated, with good records and vision among the
Diaspora and ethnic nationalities. This group must have the mandate both
from the Burman and the non-Burman. The rest I will not put it on paper,
as it is too sensitive and the Junta will get hint of it, but one thing,
which I can tell you, is that we want the America to help us but we don’t
need a drop GI blood to be shed in Burma. How, can we do it will be
demonstrated as I have met with several junior field commanders at the
peripherals and all have agree to fight under one command.

Speaking with the VIPs (ministers, politicians, strategic think tanks and
policy analyst) in Europe and America I have come to the conclusion that
they are supporting NCGUB clique because there is no choice. Their
inefficiency has been demonstrated several times in the last one and half
decades and there are several examples i.e. when I (as an academic)
visited India and talk with the VIPs, at the height of India Pakistan
rolling nuclear eyeball, the Indian leaders were quite upset at the silent
voice of ASEAN countries. Hence I made a proposal that if we overseas
democracy Burmese groups were to support India vis a vis Pakistan will
India withdrew their support to the Junta? The answer seems to be
affirmative (Salai Zaceulian accompanied me) and I at once send an email
to Dr Sein Win but he never cares to reply. So I came back to Europe and
verbally relay the message via the Euro Burma Office but no result.
Partly, because of the ineptitude of NCGUB, now India is solely on the
side of the Junta and even selling arms and ammunition. So also with
Bangladesh, when I met Foreign Minister Moshed Khan (accompanied by
Robindra Gosh of the Bangladesh Supreme Court) where a suggestion to solve
the Rohingyas problem was proposed, even though I knew that during the
days of Mujahid (now Rohingyas) their leader has gone to Ali Jinna
(founder of Pakistan) asking part of Arakan to incorporate into East
Pakistan. But as of now Khin Nyunt has taken the initiative by making
Rohingyas the Burmese citizens. In the case of China, how are we going to
react and exploit it to our advantage, now that a senior member of Bush’s
foreign policy team, James Moriarty, who runs Asian affairs for the
National Security Council, has secretly traveled to Taiwan and underscore
the change of US policy of China in face of Beijing’s economic growth?

To a well-known strategist it would be hilarious to read the latest
declaration of Nagote calling Japan and ASEAN to intercede. I am not
arguing the contents but the fact that Japan and ASEAN are separate
entities (even though they are having a summit at Tokyo) and as such our
policy (including the appeal) towards Japan must be entirely different
from ASEAN, who are the champions of Constructive Engagement and have stab
the Burmese struggle from the back (partly a wrong protocol). Experts like
Dr. Min Nyo of the Burma Office in Japan should be pivotal to have a
maximum benefit. Now that Khin Nyunt, is attending the ASEAN-Japan meeting
and is appearing on television to charm the Japanese public opinion, if we
don’t know how to handle the Japanese policy we are bound to lose it to
the Junta again. Japan is in the course of changing its policy and for the
first time since the World War has sent its troops overseas. We must know
how to exploit it.

My sole idea is first come first serve, i.e. to knock out the Junta by any
means is our first priority and once the Junta is finished, then let the
politicians and ethnic leaders sort it out in the drawing board, for at
least we can speak to each other in frankness without shooting each other
or being persecuted. So in tackling the first task will the Diaspora dared
to launch a letter writing campaign against NCGUB and its supporters to
retire peacefully? The second task is will the seasoned think tanks team
be magnanimous enough to recruit the dedicated intellectual activists into
their team and incorporate in the strategic council to be more effective?
The Third task is to educate the ethnic national leaders that National
Convention means the participation of all the people’s representative
(including Daw Suu led NLD) couple with the release of all political
prisoners without which everybody must refuse to attend Khin Nyunt’s
orchestrated national convention. How do we react to these challenges? Are
we going to take the advantage of the American feelings, now that US is
deliberately left out meaning that there is no place for America in
Southeast Asia? It is for the Diaspora and the ethnic nationalities to
decide.

Vancouver Canada

Note: Opinions expressed here are those of the author only-- Shan-EU Editor

_____________________________

Dec 11, The Nation
Japan needs to court Asean wisely

Having thrown money at Southeast Asia for years, Tokyo is now in danger of
losing its influence to China

The upcoming Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo has been billed as
a historic occasion where the leaders of the two sides will reaffirm their
commitment to 'act together and advance together'. Indeed, the
relationship between the two sides has come a long way since the first
Asean-Japan Summit in 1977 that produced the Fukuda Doctrine calling for a
'heart to heart understanding'. Japan has shown that it has been a friend
of Asean in times of trouble. From the Indochina conflict to the 1997
financial crisis, in which Tokyo announced US$80 billion (Bt3.2 trillion)
assistance to the region, its generosity has been second to none.

During the Cold War era Asean needed a rich and powerful friend like Japan
amid a growing Red Scare domestically and the presence of restive
Vietnamese troops on Cambodian soil. Tokyo, on the other hand, needed a
forum to spread its wings in the region and perhaps close a horrific
chapter from World War II.

For the past two and a half decades, Japan has had a free hand to build
and shape its relationship with the regional bloc. Phrases like 'equal
partnership' and 'harmonious relationship' were tossed around to describe
their ties.

But no matter how one looks at it, there was simply a giver and a receiver
relationship. Along the way, Japan got used to this arrangement,
conveniently overlooking other factors such as China's expansion as well
as Asean's omnidirectional diplomacy.

Today, Japan can no longer count on its generosity to keep it ahead of the
pack. Unfortunately, Tokyo doesn't seem to have the political will to face
this new reality. This is partly because Asean has become stronger and
would prefer to pick and choose its destiny rather than be tied down to
one power or another through largesse.

Plenty has been written about China and the US competing to strengthen
their spheres of influence in Southeast Asia and the question of just
where Japan fits into all this is becoming increasingly prominent.

Japan, on the other hand, refuses to see itself as being in competition
with China in Southeast Asia, saying both countries have their own ways of
dealing with Asean and that their respective roles with the grouping are
complementary.

Japan thinks that its generosity and financial aid will continue to make
it first among equals in the eyes of the region. It does not see, or has
chosen not to see, the oldest trick in the book: that Asean is using the
China card to get what it wants from Japan.

A case in point is the situation concerning Burma whereby Asean, and
Thailand in particular, has turned a cold shoulder to Japan's efforts to
help behind the scenes and instead is looking to China for guidance. This
is somewhat ironic in that one of the reasons Burma was originally
admitted to Asean was to counter China's growing influence over that
country. It is also symptomatic of the fact that China is now looking to
pull more political as well as financial strings in Southeast Asia while
Japan has only the financial card to play.

Does this mean that Asean wants to replace Japan for China or another
power? Probably not. Southeast Asia is not a forum for powerful countries
and groupings to compete over who has the better product. It has to do
with who has what to offer. It's time for Japan to think outside the box.
With China's growing influence in the region and an Asean that is bold
enough to use the Beijing card to get what it wants, Tokyo can't afford to
think that its generosity will always be a deciding factor in maintaining
its influence.
____________________________

STATEMENT

Dec 11, Worldviewrights
DEMOCRATIC ACTION PARTY

Media Statement (3) by DAP National Chairman Lim Kit Siang in Petaling
Jaya on Wednesday 10th December 2003:

The Tokyo Declaration of the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit should lay
down an ASEAN-Japan roadmap for the return of Burma to democracy to stop
the Myanmar junta continuing to deceive ASEAN, Japan and international
community with an alleged "roadmap to democracy" which is actually a
"roadmap to kill democracy"

The Myanmar military junta has taken ASEAN, Japan and the international
community for a ride for the past six months, claiming that it has a
"roadmap" for democracy, while continuing in keep the Burmese Opposition
Leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in incarceration and
refusing to take any meaningful steps towards democratization and national
reconciliation in the country.

It has been reported that the Tokyo Declaration which will be the
culmination of the two-day ASEAN-Japan 30th Commemorative Summit beginning
tomorrow will include reference to the protection and promotion of basic
human rights based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.

The Tokyo Declaration should lay down an ASEAN-Tokyo roadmap for the
return of Burma to democracy to stop the Myanmese military junta
continuing to deceive ASEAN, Japan and the international community with an
alleged "roadmap to democracy", which is actually a "roadmap to kill
democracy".

It is both shocking and outrageous that ASEAN, Japanese and international
leaders could be such easy prey to the machinations and the international
politics and diplomacy of hypocrisy and equivocation as to close their
eyes to the continued repression, brutality and massive human rights
violations of the Myamese military rule, starting with the ASEAN Foreign
Ministers'
Meeting in Pnomh Penh in June all the way to the ASEAN Summit in Bali in
October, and now the ASEAN-Tokyo Summit.

At least, the Commonwealth has established its relevance as an
organization founded on the principles of the Harare Declaration on
democracy, the rule of law and good governance when the Commonwealth Heads
of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Abuja, Nigeria reached the highly
controversial and divisive decision to continue the suspension of Zimbabwe
because the
dictatorship of Robert Mugabe had laid to waste the Zimbabwe political,
economic, legal and human rights systems and subjecting the Zimbabwean
people to unprecedented misery and suffering.

The ASEAN-Japan relationship should not be a completely unprincipled one
bereft of the values of democracy, human rights and good governance.

The two-day ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit will be a major flop and a
great letdown to the people of Burma and regional and international
opinion if the ASEAN and Japanese leaders continue to be silent on Burma,
gullible and can still buy the Myanmese "roadmap to democracy" which has
not demonstrated any element of democracy and human rights in the past few
months.

At minimum, the Tokyo Declaration must spell out an ASEAN-Japan roadmap
for the return of Burma to democracy, which should set the Myanmese
military junta a time span to implement the following measures:

(1) Release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

(2) Hold a substantive political dialogue with the National League for
Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of non-Burman
ethnic nationalities.

(3) Allow basic political freedoms, which include reopening of the NLD
party offices and resumption of political activities.

(4) Cooperate with the United Nations Special Envoy and UN Special
Rapporteur to assess the situation after the 30 May Tabayin Massacre so
that the country can be guided towards a transition to a civilian rule.
____________________________

BRIEFING

Dec 10, U.S. Department of State, Daily Press Briefing
Burmese Roadmap

Excerpt:

QUESTION: A fast one on Burma. There was a report that the Administration
expressed interest in joining the talks next week on the Burma roadmap. Is
that true?

MR. BOUCHER: No, we haven't requested to participate. We were informed by
Thailand about their plans for the meeting. It's a meeting that they have
organized to discussed national reconciliation in Burma, but it's under
the auspices of the Royal Thai Government. They'd have to explain what the
meeting is about, but we did not ask to participate.

QUESTION: And has the United States -- has the Administration expressed
any interest at all in participating in this process with them?

MR. BOUCHER: No.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. BOUCHER: We have, I think, frequently pointed out the obvious
deficiency of this sort of roadmap proposed by the Burmese authorities in
that it doesn't involve the participations of members of the democratic
movement; and that participation is essential by democratic forces in
order to have a plan that can restore Burma to democracy, so that's been
our position on the idea all along, but we've not asked to participate.

We've been interested, though, in keeping in touch with the Thai
Government, hearing what they had to say, letting us know what they
thought might be accomplished and letting us know that they, too, were
interested in encouraging and urging the participation of democratic
forces in Burma. We discussed it fairly extensively when we were out in
Thailand for the APEC and the State visit.

Yeah, George.
_______________________________