BurmaNet News, July 9, 2004

[Editor]

July 9, 2004, Issue # 2513

“America will remain steadfast in seeking freedom for the Burmese people.
We call on other concerned nations to join us in pressing the regime to
live up to its commitments to restore full democracy and human rights to
the people of Burma.”
- White House Press Statement on signing of import sanctions bill, July 8,
2004


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar national convention goes into recess: delegate
AFP: Myanmar slams US over renewed sanctions
Bangkok Post: The Final Frontier

REGIONAL
Economist: Regionally challenged; Asian security
JEN: Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt to visit China
Narinjara: 18 Burmese citizens rescued from traffickers

INTERNATIONAL
LA Times: U.S. Appeals for Aid in Effort to Free Suu Kyi

OPINION / OTHER
Nation: Asem summit at risk of collapse

STATEMENT
The White House: Office of the Press Secretary: Statement on Burma Sanctions


INSIDE BURMA
______________________________________

July 9, Agence France Presse
Myanmar national convention goes into recess: delegate

Yangon: Myanmar's national convention aimed at helping draft a new
constitution went into recess Friday, according to a delegate to the forum
who said the break could last three months.

The convention, billed by the junta as the first step in its "roadmap to
democracy", will likely resume in October, the delegate said, but the
convention's top official, Lieutenant General Thein Sein, told delegates
that no return date had been set.

"It will be resumed at an opportune time," the delegate quoted Thein Sein
as saying.

In all some 1,076 delegates, mainly handpicked by the military junta, have
been at the venue since the forum was launched May 17 and tasked with
adopting a framework for a new constitution.

"The national convention has gone into recess after papers were presented
to the plenary session," the delegate from one of the 28 armed ethnic
groups in attendance told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Our group put forward our proposal paper today. All the sessions went
smoothly with only minor differences of opinion," he said, although
details of the 18 papers on the sensitive issue of future power sharing
that were put forward by groups of delegates were not available.

The delegates came from various sectors of Myanmar society including
political parties, labourers, farmers, intellectuals and civil servants.

The country's main opposition group, the National League for Democracy
(NLD), led a boycott of the forum as its leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains
under house arrest and reforms to the session were not made by the
government.

Yangon was also hit with severe international criticism over the
convention, with the United States, the United Nations and human rights
groups condemning the process.

______________________________________

July 9, Agence France Presse
Myanmar slams US over renewed sanctions

Yangon: Myanmar's military-run regime on Friday strongly criticised the
United States for renewing sanctions and said it was too focused on the
fate of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

US President George W. Bush signed a law on Wednesday extending a range of
sanctions for 12 months after continued criticisms over Aung San Suu Kyi's
continued detention and the slow pace of democratic reforms.

In a scathing response, the junta in Myanmar condemned US policies as
"self-defeating" and said they could derail Myanmar's moves towards
becoming a democracy, a process that critics have condemned as a sham.

"Instead of focusing on a single individual, we encourage Washington to
consider the entire population of Myanmar," the regime said in a
statement, referring to the Nobel peace prize winner.

Aung San Suu Kyi is currently more than a year into her third period of
house arrest. Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won
elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to rule.

"Sanctions merely delay or even derail Myanmar's proper evolution to a
democracy," said the regime statement.

"But the US still seems to believe that sanctions and invasions are the
solutions to all the problems the world is facing today."

The junta said the US would benefit from trade, democracy, ending the
drugs trade and an economically stable Myanmar but it claimed that the US
was hampering any move towards a democracy.

Myanmar's military rulers began a national convention in May, the first of
what it says are seven steps to democracy, but it has been boycotted by
the NLD because it said its views about reform were being ignored.

"If our countries are to move forward it is clearly a time for Washington
to constructively join us in building a modern, a prosperous and enduring
democracy in Myanmar," said the statement from the regime that has ruled
Myanmar since 1962.

The sanctions were enshrined in a 2003 law signed by Bush to pressure the
Yangon junta to improve its human rights record, promote democracy and
clamp down on drug trafficking.

The law includes banning US investments in and imports from Myanmar,
financial services and certain property dealings. It also imposes an arms
embargo and suspends all bilateral aid.

______________________________________

July 8, Bangkok Post
The Final Frontier - Myint Shwe

Probably this is the last place God made for his children to explore,
astonish and enjoy. However, after creation, the Almighty seems to have
had second thoughts as to what should be the right time for letting
outsiders into this vast expanse of snow-topped mountains and rivers.
Western travellers have yet to find their way into this beauteous and
bountiful wonderland.

The place is none other than Kachin state in military-run Burma, or
Myanmar, the country's northernmost section where the borders of India,
Burma and China meet. In an area roughly the size of Maine in the US, it
contains snowy mountains _ the highest point in all Southeast Asia, a
large mysterious lake _ virtually an inland sea _ and the two glacier-fed
rivers that are the source of the Irrawaddy, immortalised in English
poetry the "Road to Mandalay". This Kachin highland of multi-ethnic Burma
is covered with Alpine forest in the upper half and with evergreen
rainforests in the bottom half (forests covering 57% of the realm). It has
a humid, temperate climate endowed with rare sub-Himalayan species of
birds and beasts. With only one and a quarter million people spread over
its 34,347 square miles area, i.e., 37 people per square mile, far below
70 _ Burma's national average _ the region is one of the last remaining
frontiers untouched by globalisation.

Few foreign visitors have heard about this part of Burma, itself an exotic
country shunned by most Western travellers because they think it's
politically incorrect to visit the country. Unresolved political troubles
have put Burma under international economic sanctions. Those who do travel
there usually go to Mandalay or Pagan, home to some five thousand Buddhist
shrines dating back to 11th century.

Myitkyina, the Kachin state's capital, is 480 miles north of Mandalay, an
hour-long flight by the domestic carrier, Yangon Airways. Putao
(pop.20,000), Burma's northernmost town and the last stop by air is
another 210 miles further north. There are two more urban cites
administratively termed as "towns" beyond Putao, namely Machyanbaw (14
miles reachable by bus) and Nawng Mun (another 64 mile on foot). Beyond
these places there still are a few isolated mountain villages. Travellers
will have to start trekking from Nawng Mun under rich forest cover on
gravel roads for 150 miles due north to get to the country's highest
point, the snowy Mt. Hkakaborazi 19,296 feet above sea leavel.

So far, apart from Chinese visitors, few Western travellers such as
naturalists, NGOs and some off-the-beaten-track tourists have visited
Kachin state. But the land has a special attraction for all Chinese
worldwide, jade. The Chinese believe jade brings them health and luck.
They come here on half-day overland trip from Kunming in Yunnan. Bamaw,
another town down in the south on the Irrawaddy, is the first stop for the
Chinese visitors from Yunnan.

For world travellers, Bangkok or Chaing Mai in Thailand is a convenient
starting point. Direct flights between Mandalay and Chaing Mai started in
2002. From Mandalay, pick a Yangon Airways flight to Myitkyina, quick and
easy. The only drawback is that, Yangon Airway does not fly to Myitkyina
everyday, although it claims to fly six days a week during peak season.

Similar to the Bridge on the River Kwai in Thailand's Kanchanaburi
province, some aging British, American, Canadian, Australian and Japanese
veterans who fought WW II in the northern Burma theatre have also been
there, apparently revisiting their youthful and glorious past. Whereas the
Death Railway turned out to be a mass grave for Allied forces, the
months-long Battle for Myitkyina fought in sub-Himalayan jungles was a
graveyard for the Japanese. Four thousand Japanese troops died here at the
hands of Allied trained Kachin Rangers. Yet, the Japanese fell in love
with the place and, after the war, asked Rangoon to let 200 Japanese
families migrate to Burma and settle down in Kachin state, unsuccessfully
though.

Besides hardwood forests, scenic and cascading waterfalls and strong
rapids, Kachin state is endowed with rich stones and metals _ jade, gold,
platinum, ruby, diamond, amber, silver, iron, copper, sapphire, spinel,
zircon, garnet, uranium, cerium, coal, oil, gas, galena, pyrites,
magnitites, hematites _ you name it. 60% of Burma's treasures are hidden
underground. A 1963 survey by Central Research Institute of Japan found
that Kachin state was endowed with seven strategic metals along with
numerous other minerals and fuel cells (coal seams and oil in shale beds).

The civil war in Burma after its independence from Britain prevented
tapping of its rich natural resources and they remain largely intact till
today.

Putao in Kachin state with its towering snow-capped mountains and slopes
can be developed into an year-round skiing destination. Besides skiing,
ecotourism and mountaineering could be other potential industries. The
summit of Hkakaborazi, the highest peak in Southeast Asia, rises up here.
The first foreigner to scale its peak was Takashi Ozaki, in 1996.

Princess Sirindhorn travelled to Kachin state in March 2003, her third
visit to Burma in twenty years. She visited the Hkakaborazi National Park
and Wildlife Sanctuary. The area has rich natural biodiversity of flora
and fauna. It's home to takins, red pandas, red bisons, green turtles,
white gibbons, leaf-eared deer, black barking deer, the Himalayan black
bear and mountain goats. For butterfly collectors, it has the rare Kaiser,
Apollo and Bhutan Glory species to offer.

In his book "Burma's Icy Mountains", British naturalist Francis Ward wrote
that he found the world's rarest and most expensive black orchid at the
foothills of Hkakaborazi and counted over 800 species in the region.

The southern half of the terrain is covered with rainforests. Indochinese
tiger, Asian elephant, macaques, langurs, sambar deer, wild boar, hoolock
gibbon, Asiatic black bear, clouded leopard as well as endangered bird
species such as the great hornbill, wreathed hornbill, and rufous-necked
hornbill are found there. Swissaid Myanmar is a major foreign NGO active
in the region. It's running projects to help preserve the region's
ecosystem and biodiversity.

About 27 miles north of Myitkyina is the confluence of glacier-fed rivers,
the Mali Hka and Nmai Hka, merging to form the mighty Irrawaddy and begin
its thousand-mile journey downstream. The water is crystal clear but icy
cold.

Visitors can watch Irrawaddy dolphins frolicking in the river. They are
now threatened by gold prospectors. Kachin rivers have been attracting
gold prospectors for centuries, and lately Australian and New Zealander
tourists in their canoes and rafts.

Kachin state also has a mysterious highland sea, the Indawgyi or Royal
Lake which is about 100 mile west of Myitkyina. Because it is elongated
and is very deep in the middle, the lake is believed to be is sitting on a
fault line. The lake, which lies north-south, is fed by a small river at
its northern tip.

According to local superstition, the lake is sacred and haunted, the home
of their ancestors. No dangerous reptiles such as crocodiles are found in
it. The locals say the current in the lake flows upward to the north three
times a year that washes organic refuse and garbage ashore. However, with
only three or four small villages dotting its western rim, the lake has
little human-generated pollution.

Compared to the smaller Inle lake in Shan state in the southeast _ one of
Burma's established tourist destinations _ the Indawgyi is lesser known.
But this fourteen by seven miles vast expanse of water with no islets or
other intrusions is a gentle but a deep inland sea ideal for yachting and
pleasure boating. Moreover, the lake is the summer habitat for eighty
species of migratory birds from the Himalayas. The government established
the Indawgyi Wetland Bird Sanctuary in 1999.

Kachin state now has four protected areas, Pidaung Wildlife Sanctuary
(1917), Hkakaborazi Protected Area (1996), Indawgyi Wetland Bird Sanctuary
(1999) and Hugaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary (1999).

Myitkyina, the state's capital (pop. 200,000) is situated on a flat beach
on a hairpin bend of the Irrawaddy. To the river's confluence up north is
only a 45 minute drive from here. It is a city of a dozen ethnic
communities. Major groups living there are Kachins (Jinghpaws, Lachiks),
Lisus, Rawangs, Tai (Lay, Mongsa, Khamti), Burmese, Indians, Nepalese,
Tibetans and of course, Chinese. Along with Kachin and Burmese, Mandarin
is the language of business. Equidistant from Myitkyina in the north,
Mandalay in the south and Kunming in the east is Bamaw, a thriving town
that has been the gateway to China since the 11th century. It's older than
Myitkyina. From Bamaw one can either take express long-tail boats upstream
or buses to Myitkyina about 75 miles north. To its south is Manadaly, the
heartland of Burma.

The Nanthida Riverside Hotel in Myikyina (estd. 1958) is staffed with
Chinese and local cooks. It has a convention hall for 400 guests. For
those who want to sleep out, it has newly-built bungalows in the compound
only a few metres from the banks of the Irrawaddy. Presently, Japanese are
the second largest group of visitors after the Chinese.


REGIONAL
______________________________________

July 10, The Economist
Regionally challenged; Asian security

Let a hundred forums bloom

When America's secretary of state, Colin Powell, dressed as a construction
worker, belted out his rendition of "YMCA", at the closing dinner last
weekend of the Association of South-East Asian Nations' (ASEAN's) Regional
Forum (just call it the ARF) in Jakarta, he was not trying to add to the
acronym soup that now drenches this annual ASEAN event. (Aficionados can
enumerate a long list of such ASEAN offshoots, starting with AFTA, its
free-trade area.) Rather he was hoping to top the legendary performance by
America's Madeleine Albright and Russia's Yevgeny Primakov, who joined
diplomatic gangs at this event six years ago for a hugely successful
post-cold-war excerpt from "West Side Story".

The ARF's reputation as the place where foreign ministers and other senior
people from Asia, Europe and North America meet and make merry may not
last. In 2006, military-ruled Myanmar will be in the chair. America has
already said that, unless Myanmar is by then well on the road to
democracy, there will be no visit from its secretary of state. The
European Union is similarly threatening to stay away from an Asia-Europe
(ASEM) summit in Hanoi in October.

However, the bigger threat to diplomatic co-operation in Asia may come
from the proliferation of talking shops, not the problems of the ARF. In
the post-September 11th world, everyone is in on the act. Even APEC, short
for Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (once described memorably if
loosely as four adjectives in search of a noun), which brings together the
two sides of the Pacific, issues statements on terrorism and the like.

Still, the ARF is supposed to be the place where more than declaratory
work on security is done. This year's summit was organised to allow more
time for behind-the-scenes diplomacy: North Korea's foreign minister was
in attendance, and met both Mr Powell and others involved in the six-way
talks on the North's nuclear programmes. That particular issue is too
sensitive, involving bigger fry, such as America, China, Russia, Japan and
South Korea, for the less powerful countries of South-East Asia to play
much of a role. For precisely that reason, there is hope among some of the
six of continuing the six-way format (though presumably not always with
the prickly North Koreans along) as a place where harder issues can be
discussed.

Adam Ward, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a
think-tank in London, says that ASEAN itself is too obsessed with managing
China to give much thought to wider concerns. Yet the relationship, he
argues, is really working the other way. At China's initiative, ASEAN has
given the go-ahead for the launch of a new Security Community (adding the
ASC to the acronym bowl) among its members to discuss issues such as
maritime safety and intelligence exchanges. For China the ASC offers a
useful rival to other less formal security dialogues, including an annual
meeting for defence ministers run by the IISS, that it finds harder to
control. The ASC will be easier for China to bend to its foreign-policy
aims, which include the blocking of all discussion of that other East
Asian security hot potato: its own stand-off with Taiwan.

______________________________________

July 9, Japan Economic Newswire
Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt to visit China

Yangon: Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt will visit China at the
invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, diplomats in Yangon said Friday.

Gen. Khin Nyunt, leading a high-level delegation including economic
ministers, will leave for Beijing on Sunday on a weeklong visit, the
diplomats said.

It is his first trip to the country since taking office as prime minister
in August last year. He visited China several times as first secretary of
the ruling State Peace and Development Council.

In China, the delegation will meet with Chinese leaders and visit
industrial zones and business centers, they said.

One member of the delegation said the main purpose of the visit is to
study economic development in China.

State-run newspapers also reported Khin Nyunt's China visit Friday, but
did not elaborate on the schedule.

______________________________________

July 10, Narinjara News
18 Burmese citizens rescued from traffickers

Dhaka: Bangladesh police yesterday rescued 18 Burmese citizens including
nine children from human traffickers in a residential hotel of Dhaka,
according to a local news agency.

Police also arrested three alleged human traffickers who brought the
Burmese citizens to Dhaka for trafficking them out to Saudi Arabia with
Bangladeshi passport.

According to source, the Burmese citizens were brought to Dhaka five days
ago and made an overnight stay at Nasir Boarding in Chittagong before
coming to Dhaka.

All are Burmese Muslim known as Rohingya and they came to Bangladesh from
Maung Daw township of Arakan state during the refugee influx in 1991-1992.

Bangladesh police said they were brought to Dhaka to be trafficked out of
the country but some of them ( Burmese citizens) said they have relatives
in Saudi Arabia and were going there to find jobs.

The rescued people and children were identified as Abul Kalam (40),
Mohammad Rafiq(20), Hossain Ahmad(20),Sultan Ahmad(30),
Nur-e-Alam(40),Abul Hashem (26), Saanjida Begum(30), Sabu Alam(8), Shiri
Zahan (35), Nur Mohammad (7), Shed Ullah (10), Humaiya Beugm (5), Kawsar
Bibi (4), Alam Rizan (35), Umme Kulsum (13), Saddam Hossain (7), fatema
Khaun (13), and Nurjahan (5).


INTERNATIONAL
______________________________________

July 9, Los Angeles Times
U.S. Appeals for Aid in Effort to Free Suu Kyi

The United States called on other nations to join it in putting pressure
on Myanmar to pursue democratic reforms and release Nobel Peace laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

The statement was issued a day after President Bush signed a law renewing
trade sanctions on Myanmar for another year. The sanctions bar imports
from the country, formerly known as Burma. They are intended to punish
Myanmar's military rulers for the detention of opposition leader Suu Kyi.


OPINION / OTHER
______________________________________

July 9, The Nation
Asem summit at risk of collapse

Asean's position on Burma will only allow the pariah state to pursue its
dark aims

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, probably biting his tongue, has said
that Cambodia would boycott the Asia-Europe Meeting in Hanoi in October if
the Europe did not allow Burma to attend. It was a classic example of
doublespeak. Even though Europe would like to go ahead with the summit,
the political situation in Burma stands in the way. At the moment, it
looks as if Rangoon might downgrade its delegation to lower than the head
of state to save the meeting. But this will not change anything in Burma.
Many EU leaders will not take part in the meeting anyway.

If that is the case, it would be better not to proceed with the summit.
Imagine how the leaders, particularly of the host country, will feel if
there are too many absentees. Cambodia recently said it should be allowed
to become a member of Asem regardless of the situation in Burma. That was
a veiled criticism of Asean because the grouping wants Europe to admit
Burma, Laos and Cambodia in a package in exchange for the membership of
the 10 new members of the European Union. Cambodia knows that it will be a
very long time before the EU even considers allowing Burma to enter the
grouping so it wants to move ahead.

The EU has reiterated that the situation in Burma must improve, that
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi must be released and that her party, the
National League for Democracy, must be allowed to take part in the
national convention in Burma. None of these has happened since the
convention began in mid-May. Burma promised to release her on April 17,
but failed to do so.

At the just concluded Asean meeting in Jakarta, the Southeast Asian
grouping chose to defend Burma. It seemed at the time that there was no
way out of this quagmire, so the Asean foreign ministers expressed support
for the ongoing process in Burma, including the national convention. It
was folly to do so. Asean has been trapped and will remain so for the
foreseeable future. The countries of Southeast Asia should urge the
military rulers in Rangoon to release Nobel laureate Suu Kyi as soon as
possible and let the NLD take part in the convention.

Burma sees its current position within Asean as win-win. For one thing,
the NLD tried to avoid the convention because it fears that its presence
would be tantamount to recognising the regime that stole its electoral
victory in 1990. On the other hand, the regime will continue with its
discredited process to draft a constitution, hoping to gain more
legitimacy, both within the country and internationally, once the
constitution is finished and ready for implementation. The regime will
then set a date for an election as soon as possible, ahead of its hosting
of the 2006 Asean meeting. If that happens, it will be a fait accompli for
Burma, a reward for its longstanding intransigence. Asean knows that very
well, which explains why it continues to back Burma. They think it is
better to have a besieged Burma as a member than a democratic one, which
could strengthen the democratic forces inside Asean. It is a shame for all
of us that Burma can get away with remaining a pariah state, exerting its
dark influence over Asean.


STATEMENT
______________________________________


July 8, The White House
Office of the Press Secretary

Statement on Sanctions by the Press Secretary

President Bush was pleased to sign yesterday a bill renewing import
restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
The United States maintains a strong set of sanctions against the regime
in Burma.  We will maintain pressure on the regime until there is tangible
progress toward the restoration of democracy and protection of human
rights for all the peoples of Burma.

We have seen no such tangible progress since the May 30, 2003 attack on
National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters.
Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo remain under house arrest and most district
party offices remain closed.  Over a thousand other political prisoners
remain in jail and arrests continue.  The regime has promised a return to
democracy and has launched a National Convention.  However, with the
democratic opposition and its leadership unable to participate freely,
this process cannot reflect the aspirations of the Burmese people.

America will remain steadfast in seeking freedom for the Burmese people.
We call on other concerned nations to join us in pressing the regime to
live up to its commitments to restore full democracy and human rights to
the people of Burma.