BurmaNet News December 8, 2004

[Editor]

December 8, 2004, Issue # 2615

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar prepares for Buddhist summit despite boycott
Irrawaddy: Veteran KNU Ceasefire Leader Retires
Irrawaddy: 13 Opposition Members Arrested – Yeni

GUNS
Narinjara: Bangladesh Army seize arms at Burmese Border

REGIONAL
AFP: Malaysia to launch massive operation in January to round up illegals
Xinhua: Highway linking China and Myanmar to be rebuilt

OPINION / OTHER
WorldNetDaily: Faith under fire: Burma attacks citizens amid 'cease-fire'
Mizzima: Facade of Unity Unravels over Burma
BBC: Rangoon paper says ASEAN understands Burma's "democratic goal"

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 8, Agence France Presse
Myanmar prepares for Buddhist summit despite boycott

Yangon: Myanmar is preparing for the Thursday opening of a world Buddhist
summit undaunted by a boycott called by its main sponsor because of an
upheaval prompted by the sacking of the military regime's premier.

Myanmar state media said the three-day event would be an undoubted
"landmark in the history of Buddhism" and is a rare potential showcase for
a nation isolated by international sanctions because of its hardline
policies and continued detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The regime has built a new convention hall and spruced up temples while
ignoring international pressure to call off the summit following a
top-level shake up in the leadership that strengthened the hand of the
regime's military hard men.

Invitations have been sent to Buddhist leaders from 37 nations, including
those in 17 countries who were told by the main sponsor that the fourth
world summit had been called off, according to officials.

Japan's Nenbutsushu sect, which has held the summit every two years in a
Buddhist nation, withdrew its sponsorship after the sacking of premier
General Khin Nyunt, who was put under house arrest for corruption in
October.

After announcing it would press on with the summit despite the sponsor's
withdrawal, Myanmar's military leadership went on the attack at the
weekend through state media to claim its right to stage the summit.

"The Nenbutsushu is only a third-class sect which, being rich, has been
using its resources to organise Buddhist summits and hold international
conferences for their own fame," the state-controlled New Light of Myanmar
newspaper said in a commentary on Saturday.

"The absence of assistance from Nenbutsushu cannot harm the summit in any
way," the newspaper said.

State media -- which had extensively covered meetings between junta
leaders and Nenbutsushu leaders before the pull-out -- did not say how
many people were now expected to turn up.

Some 2,500 delegates had been expected before the crisis, according to a
source from Myanmar's religious affairs department, but the numbers were
expected to be much lower.

Despite the controversy, the regime welcomed the attendance of Thai
premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who will make a keynote speech at the event,
and his Laotian counterpart Bounhang Varachit.

Thaksin will also use the visit to make a rare courtesy call on Senior
General Than Shwe, the head of the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), the official name of the junta.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based
rights group, called for a boycott of the conference because of the
continued detention of an estimated 300 monks by the regime.

Myanmar's outlawed Young Monks' Association has supported the boycott amid
concerns among the international community that the junta could use the
event for political grandstanding.

"It's the mixture of politics and religion which disturbs us; any event
organised by the Burmese will inevitably include propaganda," said a
Yangon-based diplomat.

The junta has been trying to promote religious tourism to the "Land of
Pagodas" to help its ailing economy, suffering under strict sanctions.

Myanmar, a majority Theravada Buddhist nation like its neighbours Laos,
Thailand, Cambodia and nearby Sri Lanka, has an estimated 4,000,000 monks
all operating under the supervision of the state.

Monks played an important role alongside students during 1988 riots
against military rule that were bloodily suppressed.

The military has ruled Myanmar since a coup in 1962 despite Aung San Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy winning landslide elections in 1990.

______________________________________

December 8, Irrawaddy
Veteran KNU Ceasefire Leader Retires - Shah Paung

Gen Bo MyaThe long-serving deputy chairman and commander-in-chief of the
Karen National Union, or KNU, Gen Bo Mya, has retired for health reasons,
a KNU source reported Wednesday.

He, 77, has been succeeded by KNU chief of staff Gen Tamla Baw, the source
said.

Gen Bo Mya’s retirement was made known at the KNU congress taking place in
a KNU-secured location along the Burma-Thailand border, according to a
participant at the assembly.

Gen Bo Mya is not attending the congress, which began on November 15. He
sent a letter in which he declared the KNU were not to blame for the
current interruption in the ceasefire, which he initiated.

Gen Bo Mya fought for the Karen cause since 1949, and in recognition of
his services he will remain a KNU “patron.”

At its current congress, the KNU has been reviewing its work in the four
years since it last met at this level. It was decided to continue the
ceasefire talks initiated by Gen Bo Mya.

The talks were interrupted after the purge in October, but a KNU
representative at the congress said contact had been established with
Maj-Gen Myint Swe, Commander of the Rangoon Military Command, who is
Burma’s new chief of Military Intelligence.

Gen Bo Mya’s retirement from his KNU positions follows his departure last
May from the position of chairman of the National Council of the Union of
Burma, an umbrella group of opposition organizations in exile. Gen Tamla
Baw, 84, succeeded him in that position, too.

Gen Tamla Baw, New Deputy-Chairman of the KNU

Gen Tamla BawTamla Baw was born in 1920 in Moulmein, southern Burma. He
was lance corporal in the 2nd Burma Rifles before World War II. During
Japanese occupation, he joined Maj Jugh Segrim’s guerrilla force.

In 1944, Tamla Baw was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned for four
months. He escaped and joined Force 136. After the war, he became
lieutenant in the 1st Karen Rifles. He joined the Karen uprising in
January 1949 and participated in the Upper Burma Campaign. In 1961, he
became commander of the Karen’s 2nd brigade.

He joined Gen Bo Mya’s Karen National Liberation Army, or KNLA, in 1968. A
year later, he became vice chief of staff of the KNLA and member of the
central committee of the Karen National Union, or KNU.

In May 2004, Tamla Baw was elected Chairman of the National Council of
Union of Burma.

(Excerpt from Burma In Revolt by Bertil Lintner)

____________________________________

December 8, Irrawaddy
13 Opposition Members Arrested – Yeni

Thirteen members of Burma’s main opposition National League for Democracy,
or NLD, were arrested by local police officers on Monday, a senior NLD
member said today.

The NLD members in Bogalay, Irrawaddy Division, were arrested for
organizing a ceremony to mark the 84th anniversary of National Day in
their home town, according to NLD spokesperson U Lwin. He said they were
all being held in Phyapon Prison.

The 10th waning day of the Burmese month of Tazaungmone is marked as
Burmese National Day. It commemorates a student bycott of Rangoon
University that took place in 1920. This year, the day falls on December
6.

“They are likely to be sent to court soon. NLD lawyers went to the
township to defend the case,” said U Lwin.

Meanwhile London-based human rights group Amnesty International urged
Burma to release all prisoners of conscience immediately and
unconditionally and put an end to abuses in the administration of justice.

The Burmese government released 9,248 inmates from jail last month. That
number included about 40 political prisoners.

Amnesty International this year said more than 1,350 political prisoners
are detained in Burmese prisons. Burma has never admitted to holding
political prisoners.

____________________________________
GUNS

December 8, Narinjara
Bangladesh Army seize arms at Burmese Border

Dhaka, December 8: The Bangladesh Army and local security forces last week
seized another several hauls of illegal arms in the regions bordering
Burma during a joint operation, said an official report.

Another stash of arms consisting of 8 AK-47s, 8 SMGs, and 4000 rounds of
bullets were discovered from two camps, which were about seven kilometres
away from the border.

The arms seized were from the Bandraban District, Nat Kaug Khali Township,
and insurgent groups from Arakan State who are fighting against the
Burmese military junta.

The Arakanese opposition groups see this current Bangladeshi military
campaign in the border areas as part of the plan to clear the path for the
gas pipeline from Burma to India through Bangladesh.

The pipeline would yield 150 million dollars a year to Bangladesh
government coffer.

Bangladesh authorities claim that the Arakanese and Muslim insurgents are
related to the local gunrunners and are engaged in the arms smuggling and
illegal arms dealings in Bangladesh.

During the operation, there were some casualties from the Bangladesh Army.

According to the Bangladesh authority, there have been four skirmishes
with insurgent groups and three Bangladeshi personnel were killed and two
wounded.

Though the authority did not specify which group caused the casualties,
rumours suggest that the skirmishers were from the Arakanese insurgent
group called the Democratic Party of Arakan and that they were based in
Roakhung Khali (Rakhaing Wa) Township, Bandraban Township.

Due to the violent clashes with the DPA forces, the local Arakanese people
and the monks, who hailed from Arakan state, Burma, are facing great
difficulties in their daily livelihood, says an Arakanese monk from the
Bandraban District.

During the battle with the DPA on 27 November, the Bangladeshi armed
forces had to use helicopters.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 8, Agence France Presse
Malaysia to launch massive operation in January to round up illegals

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia will launch a nationwide operation in January to
rid the country of more than one million illegal migrant workers, a junior
minister said Wednesday.

Tan Chai Ho, deputy home (interior) minister, said once the amnesty ends
on December 31 security forces would arrest the illegals along with their
employers and charge them in court.

"There are still many illegals in the country. According to unofficial
data, there are some one million illegals. So we need to carry out a major
operation to make sure there are no illegals in the country," he was
quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

Malaysia on Wednesday extended until the end of this month the deadline
for illegals to return home. It had earlier given them until the end of
the Eid-al-Fitr Islamic holiday in mid-November to leave but the response
had been poor.

"We hope that with the extension of the amnesty, more illegal (workers) in
Malaysia will return to Indonesia," visiting Malaysian Deputy Prime
Minister Najib Razak said in Jakarta after talks with Vice President Yusuf
Kalla.

Malaysia has announced that it will deploy more than half a million
members of volunteer neighbourhood security groups to track down and
detain the estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants in the country, mainly
from Indonesia and the Philippines.

The move has been described as "ominous" by Human Rights Watch. The
volunteers would receive minimal training and would get cash rewards for
each migrant arrested, the rights group said.

It urged the government to drop the plan to avoid vigilantism.

Once the amnesty expires, illegal immigrants face jail sentences of up to
five years and a whipping.

Tan said 18,607 people have already been caned, mainly from Indonesia,
Myanmar and the Philippines, for entering the country without valid
documents.

As of December 6 a total of 101,668 Indonesian migrants had returned to
Indonesia, according to a statement distributed in Jakarta by Najib's
staff.

_____________________________________

December 8, Xinhua Economic News Service
Highway linking China and Myanmar to be rebuilt

Kunming: A highway linking China's southwest border province of Yunnan
with the neighboring country of Myanmar will be upgraded soon, so as to
further boost exchanges between China and the southeast Asia, local
government sources said.
An agreement for renovating the highway which extends south from the
Zhangfeng Town of Longchuan county, Yunnan, to Bhamo, a port in northern
Myanmar, has been signed at Rangoon, Myanmar's capital, recently by the
Longchuan government and the Ministry of Construction of Myanmar, the
Longchuan government said.

According to the agreement, the Longchuan government will invest 28
million yuan (3.38 million US dollars) for the rebuilding of the
79-kilometer highway, expected to open for traffic again at the end of
2006.

Zhangfeng Town is the nearest port in the southwest China to Myanmar, only
94 kilometers away from Myanmar's Bhamo. It has become an important
trading center with Southeast and South Asia.

The current Zhangfeng-Bhamo highway has brought influences on the business
activities between Yunnan and Myanmar, but it has limited transportation
capacity.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 8, WorldNetDaily
Faith under Fire: Burma attacks citizens amid 'cease-fire'

Thousands of members of an ethnic group in eastern Burma with a strong
Christian population are hiding in the jungle after their villages were
attacked by army battalions carrying out a government plan described by
human-rights watchers as systematic genocide of minorities.

Two recent reports sent to WorldNetDaily by an aide worker in Thailand,
near the Burma border, indicate Rangoon's military regime is continuing to
drive members of the Karen minority from their homes.

While officially the government has agreed to a cease-fire with Karen
resistance fighters seeking independence, the Burmese Army has maintained
attacks on ethnic villages during the dry season, according to reports.

A crying villager said, according to the source, "I was very happy about
my leaders making a cease-fire and believed in it. I made a large farm and
now I have lost everything."

Villagers in east Burma are seeking refuge in mountains after the latest
attacks by the country's military regime

The source said, "Burmese battalions are on the attack at the extreme ends
of the Karen State north and south of our location here in Thailand. Right
now, at least 800 villagers in the south and over 3,000 villagers in the
north are running and hiding in the jungle.

"The full extent of this crisis is unknown, as many villagers are still on
the run," he continued. "We have received innumerable pleas for help."

The Karen and another group, the Karenni, estimated together to number 14
million, live largely in simple farming villages in south and east Burma.

According to the Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical
Fellowship, a coalition of national church organizations, "The military
junta's atrocities, aimed at eliminating the Karen and Karenni people,
include using human minesweepers, random killings, looting and destroying
entire villages and farmlands, widespread rape, imprisonment of Christian
leaders and compulsory labor in relocation camps."

On Nov. 30, two Burma Army battalions attacked 10 villages and displaced
about 3,000 villagers in Toungoo District, Northern Karen State, the
Thailand source said.

Villages have established crisis response teams for such attacks, but one
team member said he is powerless to assist his people in their suffering
and can only pray.

Another member said, "To compare my people to something would be comparing
them to animals in the jungle. If I compare their lives to a dog in a
town, the food for the dog is more than for the people in the jungle. I do
not want to see them living like that any more."

The team member said he has prayed for the refugees, and some are turning
in desperation to God.

"I told them that when we see clouds in the sky, the rain will often come,
but after the rain the sky is clear and the sun will come out again."

In earlier attacks, according to a Nov. 18 report, four Burma Army
battalions and one troop targeted villagers in Hsaw Htee Township who
already had been displaced from their homes, driving more than 800 people
into the jungle.

"The Burma Army is now occupying the high ground near the abandoned
villages and continues to burn rice barns as well as to eat the livestock
the villagers had to abandon," the report said.

"Food, shelter, health and security are their biggest problems right now."

The report noted that amid rainy weather, "The children and other
internally displaced persons had no plastic sheeting and insufficient
shelter so they got wet ... . The villagers were suffering from malaria,
diarrhea, hepatitis and other illnesses ... ."
The source said, "Last month a runner brought us a video-taped interview
with villagers who had just been overrun by an infantry battalion backed
by two more battalions. Similarly, this was a village showing signs of
progress 
 it had just had a school and clinic built 
 a fact which may
have made it the object of attack. An old man and his wife calmly
recounted how their village was burned to the ground, friends beaten to
death and their young granddaughter raped to death by the attacking
battalion. Both said they had been 'on the run' since their childhood."

'Country of particular concern'

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent
panel that reports to the president and secretary of state, nominated
Burma, also known as Myanmar, as a "country of particular concern,"
potentially subject to sanctions for egregious, ongoing persecution.

A recent report by the panel said: "Repression by the military regime in
Burma is widespread and continues systematically to include severe
violations of religious freedom and other abuses. The government exercises
strict control over many religious activities, imposes restrictions on
certain religious practices, and, in some areas of the country, forcefully
promotes Buddhism over other religions."

The Religious Liberty Commission said the army "forcibly conscripts young
men leaving Sunday worship services, as well as children and teenage girls
who are often raped" and "soldiers repeatedly show their contempt for
Christianity by disrupting worship services and forcing congregations to
dismantle their church sanctuary, using the materials to rebuild Buddhist
monasteries."

The military regime, which came to power in 1988, began negotiating with
the resistance Karen National Union and agreed to an informal cease-fire,
but Burmese Army attacks have continued, the British group Christian
Solidarity Worldwide affirms.

In military attacks in July and September on several Karen and Karenni
villages, two schools, clinics and many homes were burned down, forcing
villagers to flee to the mountains.

Many eventually died while on the run from the combined effects of severe
malnutrition, disease and fatigue.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide said more than 350,000 internally displaced
people are estimated to live within the Karenni and Karen regions and more
than 100,000 Karens are in refugee camps across the border in Thailand.

The Thailand Burma Border Consortium's October report, Internal
Displacement and Vulnerability in Eastern Burma, estimated the number of
internally displaced people to be at least 526,000.

The Thailand source said people who want to help can send checks [100
percent goes toward relief aid, as overhead costs already are covered] to
Strategic Outreach International, Holiday Crisis Fund, P.O. Box 1166,
Dillon, Colorado, 80435.

_____________________________________

December 8, Mizzima
Facade of Unity Unravels over Burma - Sonny Inbaraj

BANGKOK, December 8, 2004: (IPS) The baffling question remains - one that
seems to indicate that the facade of unity within the region's premier
regional grouping, the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN),
over member Burma seems to be unraveling.

Last week, ASEAN coddled the repressive regime that still detains
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But this week, in a complete
turnaround, its members appear to be in a scramble to castigate Rangoon.

ASEAN leaders, meeting at their summit in the Lao capital Vientiane last
week, warmly welcomed Burma's new prime minister Lt Gen Soe Win, who in
October took over from ousted Khin Nyunt. Their final summit communiqu
harped on every geopolitical tension in the world, except Burma.

The days following the ASEAN summit, however, saw a different drama
unfolding.

This week started off with Indonesia on Sunday accusing Burma of dodging
the issue of Suu Kyi's detention, and saying there was a gap between
official junta statements and reality.

According to Indonesia's foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa,
Burma was asked at the ASEAN summit to clarify media reports that it had
extended Suu Kyi's arrest for another year.

"The matter was asked, clarification requested, but still there was no
explicit answer," Natalegawa told a news briefing. "Seeing the reality, it
is difficult for us to conclude there is consistency between what they say
and the reality in Myanmar (Burma)," he added.

The next day, Malaysia fired a second volley at Rangoon.

On Monday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters in
Kuala Lumpur that Burma should release Suu Kyi to convince the
international community that it remains serious about bringing democracy
to the country.

"Myanmar has re-affirmed (its) commitment towards democratisation...but
they have never spoken about the release of Aung San Suu Kyi," said Syed
Hamid.

"We don't want to tell Myanmar what to do, but they have to look at their
road map (toward democracy) so that it has got credibility and it is
believed by the international community that they are going to proceed as
they have promised," he added.

On Nov. 29, the Burmese generals extended by another 12 months the house
arrest of Suu Kyi, who has been detained for a total of nine years since
1989. The leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party began
her latest period under house arrest in May 2003, following a violent
clash between her supporters and a pro-junta mob outside Rangoon.

The most recent one to make a scramble to put pressure on Rangoon -- it
seems in order not to be left out -- is Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, who is visiting Rangoon on Thursday to attend the World
Buddhist Summit.

The fate of a constitution-setting National Convention, the first step of
a "road map to democracy" unveiled last year by Khin Nyunt, would top the
agenda of his visit, Thaksin told reporters.

So why the sudden turnaround after the ASEAN summit? The answer might be
found in the events leading up to the start of regional grouping's summit
on Nov. 27.

Before ASEAN leaders from the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Burma gathered in Laos, Thai Premier
Thaksin issued a threat saying he would walk out of the summit if the
violence in Thailand's Muslim-dominated southern provinces is raised by
Indonesia and Malaysia.

Thailand has attracted international opprobrium for the deaths, at the end
of October, of at least 85 unarmed Muslim protestors at the hands of
police and soldiers in the province of Narathiwat, bordering Malaysia.

"Thaksin's threat freaked out Laos as the host country," said Debbie
Stothard, the convenor of ALTSEAN, a Burma advocacy group.

"Laos wanted to show the outside world that as the first-ever host of the
ASEAN summit, it (the summit) would be a success. So they exerted
diplomatic pressure, as the host, to put a lid on contentious issues that
might divide the regional grouping - and Burma was also one of them," she
told IPS.

Kavi Chongkittavorn, assistant group editor of 'The Nation' daily and a
former media policy officer with the ASEAN secretariat, castigated
Thailand for holding the regional grouping hostage.

"Thailand, under Thaksin, is abrogating its responsibility as a frontline
state to shape policy in neighbouring Burma, and that's worrying. It was a
win-win situation in Vientiane for Rangoon and Thaksin is to be blamed for
that," he said in an interview. "It's like ASEAN has allowed the tail to
wag the dog."

Many Burma observers are frustrated especially given the fact that at last
year's summit in the Indonesian resort of Bali, ASEAN leaders had publicly
called for Suu Kyi's release and secured a guarantee from Burma's then
prime minister Khin Nyunt that the regime was serious about democratic
reforms.

Burma joined ASEAN in 1997 despite misgivings by some governments and
activists in and out of the region, but ASEAN countries said membership
would allow its 'constructive engagement' policy to slowly encourage
Rangoon to open up its political system.

But now it seems ASEAN's image and relationship with the Western world has
been negatively affected by Burma's unchanged behaviour.

Also at the heart of the matter is the torch of leadership of ASEAN.
Malaysia becomes rotating ASEAN chair next year, after which the position
would go to Burma in 2006.

"For that reason, Malaysia and its close ally Indonesia are now
panicking," said Stothard.

"If these countries can't express their views about Burma within ASEAN,
they will make it outside the regional grouping," she added.

"That indicates the level of frustration within ASEAN and also the
frustration that Thailand wants to scuttle things."

_____________________________________

December 7, The New Light of Myanmar via BBC
Rangoon paper says ASEAN understands Burma's "democratic goal"

The rise in ASEAN's constructive cooperation with Burma is due to the
government's pursuit of a market economic system and its "democratic
goal", an article in a Rangoon daily has said. The article defended the
government's gradual approach of introducing a multi-party system only
after a strong economy is flourishing, and criticized "internal political
parties'" call for sanctions. The following is the text of the article by
Aung Moe San entitled: "Tatmadaw government's steadfast objective of
market economy and democracy"; published in English by Burmese newspaper
The New Light of Myanmar web site on 7 December

Since 1988, the Tatmadaw Defence Services government has been putting the
12 objectives into operation. In its drive to realize these objectives,
the government has given the top priority to proper evolution of
market-oriented economic system, first introducing the multi-party system
in the nation, adhering strictly to the concept that democracy does not
flourish at home without a firm market-oriented economic system.

Goals on the political, social, cultural and democracy affairs can be
achieved only after full-scale practice of the market-oriented economic
system. For example, now the People's Republic of China has made dramatic
progress through the market-oriented economic system, standing as a model
for international community. The nations trying to introduce democracy
without strong economy have faced total disintegration in addition to
bloodshed events and a large variety of crises in various sectors, and are
still suffering from adversities and getting into great economic crisis.
The existing government will never let the nation fall into such
situations. No matter how much certain foreign countries are putting
pressure on the nation, the government will choose the most appropriate
path towards democracy that is in conformity with the traditions and
culture of the people. That is the reason why the government is taking all
possible measures and steps to build a discipline-flourishing democratic
nation through step-by-step implementation of the seven-point road map.

When interviewed by Mr Scott Johnson of the News Week magazine name as
published , a famous Mexican writer, also journalist and thesis resource
person, Mr Carlos Flute, expressed his belief that the best way for
introducing democracy in a nation was to take the first step through free
trade, adding that Cuba would be on its path towards democracy when there
was no danger of the colonialism of the US. China was enjoying rapid
development and that would help flourish democracy in the country, he
said. Every nation had activities, culture and ways of their own to
flourish democracy and it was not proper to make forced prescription of
democracy for other nations. Any foreign countries could not prescribe
democracy for other nations, he said. Mr Flute served as Mexican
ambassador to France from 1974 to 1977, and as a faculty member of US
universities including Columbia, Princeton and Pennsylvania universities.

It is all known that today the developing countries, that are making
democratic reforms, are facing interference, instigation and intervention
of certain big powers, posing great danger to them. Developing countries
will be able to transform themselves into democratic ones in line with
prevailing situations of their social life. The world nations cannot copy
US democracy system nor British democracy system. Even Western countries'
democratic reforms were not the same. Of them, some countries had to take
hundreds of years to become democratic nations on their own ways. Economic
production forces play a basic role in turning a nation into a democratic
one.

Contrary to the propensity for democracy and human rights, these western
countries are imposing lopsided economic sanctions against Myanmar, which
is now in the process of transition to democracy. Their motive is to put
Myanmar economy in deep recession. Some internal political parties assume
that economic sanctions as well as external pressure would enable
democracy to thrive. Sticking to the cause of dogmatism, they are totally
opposed to the ruling government. In other words, they are practising the
"Look-West" policy. They ignore the cause of national consolidation. These
are the internal issues stemming from the interference of some western
powers in the internal affairs of Myanmar.

However, neighbouring countries, ASEAN member countries, and Asian
countries in addition to fair-minded countries of the international
community bearing positive attitude towards Myanmar have now come to
double their cooperation with her as they realize her authentic situation.

As a result, there emerges a conceptual difference in the international
community: the stance of the US and its allies to establish a democracy in
a country with the use of external pressure, and that of the ASEAN and
Asian countries to establish a democracy based on the social life of the
country concerned.

The 10th ASEAN Summit; the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam)
Summit; the Summits of the Heads of State/Government of ASEAN countries,
the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea; the
ASEAN-India Summit; and the ASEAN plus Australia-New Zealand Commemorative
Summit were held in Vientiane, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, on
28-30 November this year. At these summits, the US and its allies as well
as pessimists pushed the ASEAN and Asian countries to press for immediate
installation of democratic system in Myanmar. The ASEAN and neighbouring
countries, which hold the policy that a country shall enjoy the right to
solve its internal affairs in its own way, however waved their demand
aside.

At these summits, the memoranda of understanding were signed on the ASEAN
Frame Work Agreement for the Integration of the Priority Sectors; the
ASEAN Sectoral Integration Protocols and ASEAN Protocol on Enhancement
Disputes Settlement Mechanism; the Agreement on Trade in Goods of the
Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between ASEAN
and China; the ASEAN-India Partnership of Peace, Progress and Shared
Prosperity; the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation Partnership
between ASEAN and ROK Republic of Korea ; the Joint Declaration of the
Leaders at the ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Commemorative Summit; and
the Instrument of Extension of Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and
Instrument of Accession to Treaty of Amity and Cooperation between ASEAN
and Russia.

A Myanmar delegation led by Prime Minister Lt-Gen Soe Win attended the
ASEAN summits.

It is undeniable that the rise in constructive cooperation with Myanmar is
due to the government's steadfast objective of market economic system and
the democratic goal being undertaken by the Tatmadaw government. All ASEAN
countries, neighbouring countries, Asian countries including the
fair-minded countries of the international community have a complete
understanding of it.