BurmaNet News, April 9-11, 2005

[Editor]

April 9-11, 2005 Issue # 2694


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Report: Myanmar junta opens controversial viewing tower at ancient
temple site
Irrawaddy: Preparations for Burma’s Asean chairmanship on course
SHAN: SSA: War with Wa inevitable
DVB: Burmese workers strike in Rangoon
DVB: Ethnic nationals told not to present proposals at Burma’s convention

ON THE BORDER
Thai Press Reports: Ratchaburi Governor denies problems at Myanmar (Burma)
refugee camp

BUSINESS / MONEY
The Business: Chevron to stay in mire of Myanmar
Mizzima: Foreign Trade Office in Imphal to boost Indo-Burma trade

ASEAN
Reuters: ASEAN skirts Myanmar issue, but rift remains

PRESS RELEASE
Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID): Asean Foreign Ministers
meeting in Cebu

STATEMENT
United Nations Office of the Secretary-General: Statement attributable to
the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on Myanmar

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 11, Associated Press
Report: Myanmar junta opens controversial viewing tower at ancient temple
site

Yangon: Myanmar's junta has opened a controversial viewing tower in the
ancient temple city of Bagan, one of Asia's most renowned archaeological
sites, a state-run newspaper reported Monday.

The regime's second-ranking leader, Deputy Sr. Gen. Maung Aye, officially
unveiled the 60-meter (198-foot) cylindrical steel tower on Sunday, the
Myanma Ahlin daily reported. Its foundation was laid in July 2003.

Authorities said the tower will give tourists a bird's-eye-view of Bagan,
help boost tourism revenues and preserve ancient pagodas by keeping
visitors from clambering over and damaging the historic structures.

Bagan has thousands of 11th and 12th century temples on an 80-square
kilometer (32-square-mile) area in central Myanmar. It is the most
important archaeological heritage site in the country, attracting
thousands of tourists annually.

UNESCO has spoken out against the tower, saying the structure would be out
of scale with the rest of the site.

But Myanmar archaeology officials have argued that the tower, located in a
southeastern corner of the city near a golf course, would not obstruct
views of the ancient temples and is far from the heart of the city and the
few tall temples favored by tourists.

The 13-story tower houses observation decks, meeting halls, offices,
souvenir shops and a restaurant, the newspaper said, quoting the managing
director of the Htoo Trading Co. Ltd., a local company that built the
tower.

____________________________________

April 11, Irrawaddy
Preparations for Burma’s Asean chairmanship on course - Kyaw Zwa Moe

Burma’s military government is still preparing to take over the Asean
chairmanship in 2006, despite the regional and international debate about
its suitability.

Work has been going on without interruption since 2003 on the construction
of dozens of high buildings in downtown Rangoon and its suburbs in a
program intended to present the capital as a modern Asian city when the
Asean summit is held there next year. The government has set a deadline
for all buildings to be finished by the end of this year or early next
year.

Many existing buildings, including Yangon [Rangoon] Trade Center at
Pazundaung township, are being renovated in preparation for Asean
meetings, said witnesses in Rangoon.

According to a journalist of a weekly journal in Rangoon, a high ranking
official of the Ministry of Hotel and Tourism said that meetings related
to tourism would be discussed in the renovated Yangon Trade Center.

The journalist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that roads in
Rangoon are also being repaired. The government appeared confident it
would take over the Asean chairmanship despite opposition within several
circles, the journalist added.

Frustration has been expressed by three Asean founding members—Malaysia,
the Philippines and Singapore—about the lack of progress towards democracy
in Burma and the continuing detention of  National League for Democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The junta’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win said yesterday that his country
wouldn’t give up its chairmanship despite the opposition of western
countries, especially the US. Nyan Win was commenting at a meeting of
regional foreign ministers in Cebu, the Philippines.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that she will not take
part in Asean’s annual ministerial meeting if it is held in Rangoon as
scheduled.

Some opposition figures in Rangoon say the Rangoon government is desperate
to chair Asean for the prestige it would bring.

Amyotheryei Win Naing said Prime Minister Lt-Gen Soe Win’s recent visits
to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam had been aimed at persuading those countries
to support Burma’s Asean chairmanship.

____________________________________

April 11, Shan Herald Agency for News
SSA: War with Wa inevitable

Negotiations between Wa and Shans yesterday broke down after explanations
given by the latter were turned down by the former, said Col Yawdserk,
leader of the Shan State Army "South".

The Wa had brought 4 charges against the SSA "South" to their meeting near
Maesai, Chiangrai province:

Defamation of the Wa organization
Abduction of 8 people under Wa protection in February
Attacking Wa convoys
Seizure of a watercourse used by Wa bases on the Thai-Burma border

According to unidentified Shan representatives, they had disclaimed all
responsibilities for the first two allegations, but allowed that the last
two could have been true as the SSA has been doing its best to defend
itself against Wa attacks since 13 March. "Panghsang needs to listen to
both warring parties before making any decision," a Shan representative
was reported as telling his Wa counterpart.

"The Wa were not satisfied and cut short our meeting," said Col Yawdserk.
"So it looks like we are in for yet another scrap before we can have a
chance to sit together again and talk shop."

The Wa have in recent days deployed about a thousand more troops in
Mongton township, apart from some 700-800 from the 171st Military Region
facing the SSA opposite Maehongson's Pang Mapha district. "For the time
being, troops from the Panghsang Central are only responsible for security
behind the lines," he explained. "They have yet to take part in the
fighting."

The 48-year old leader who had joined the resistance since he was 17 also
conveyed his regrets to the Thai government for all the inconveniences
that the forthcoming hostilities with the Wa might bring to the kingdom
and its people along the border. "This is a fight that I dearly wish to
avoid but cannot," he added, "because we know no matter who loses between
the Wa and us, the Burma Army will be the winner".

All three major armed groups along the border: Karen National Union,
Karenni National Progressive Party and Shan State Army "South" have, "for
the sake of Thailand", vowed not to start a fight near the border.

The SSA has already been engaged in several encounters with the United Wa
State Army's 171st Military Region, commanded by Wei Hsuehkang, since 13
March. The latest major assaults by the Wa took place on 3-4 April. Since
then the Wa had been reinforcing, according to both Shan and Thai military
sources.

____________________________________

Apr 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese workers strike in Rangoon

Burmese workers at Rangoon Haling Thaya Industrial Zone staged peaceful
protests in March.

Over 1000 workers of Wan Hom Jiang clothing factory owned by a Chinese
tycoon, staged peaceful demonstrations and demanded their Chinese boss to
increase their salary and pay for the overtime works.

Workers demonstrated peacefully for two days because they had to work from
5am to 9pm but their boss didn’t pay their salary fully and failed to give
them money for overtimes.

A local resident who lives near the factory told DVB that the factory
owner is called Mr Gyaung.

“That boss is very stingy. He never paid people regularly. He paid only
15,000 kyat for 20,000 and 25,000 for 30,000 kyat” she said. “Some people
did overtime. He forced people to work like anything, but he didn’t want
to pay.”

She added that some workers refused to resume work and quit their job, and
the factory was closed down.

Despite the unfair treatments of Burmese workers by the Chinese boss,
there was no one to protect the rights of the workers. Some workers are
planning to report to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) office
in Rangoon with the help of some people in the know.

____________________________________

April 9, Democratic Voice of Burma
Ethnic nationals told not to present proposals at Burma’s convention

The cease-fire or peace groups that attended recently suspended
Nyaunghnapin National Convention were warned by the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) not to present suggestions very often or else
their cease-fire agreements could be in jeopardy, it has emerged.

In a few days prior to the adjournment of the SPDC’s convention, some
cease-fire groups met with Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint, joint secretary of the
National Convention Convening Commission (NCCC).

One of the delegates, Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) Vice-Chairman
Dr Tu Ja, told DVB that Khin Aung Myint met with delegates of New Mon
State Party (NMSP), United Wa State Army (UWSA), Kokang, Mong La, KIO and
Shan State Nationalities People’s Liberation Organisation (SSNPLO, Ya La
La Hpa in Burmese) and “explained what was needed to be explained” in the
middle of March.

At the meeting, the SPDC authorities told them not to include proposals
concerning the legislature and the judiciary.

“We really wanted to present some proposals at the group level but we were
told not to present any proposals. We discussed the issue and finally
decided not to include new proposals,” Tu Ja said.

According to sources close to cease-fire groups, Khin Aung Myint warned
the cease-fire groups not to present suggestions very often and to accept
the “official” paper read at the convention.

The ethnic delegates responded that all their proposals were the views of
the groups and public opinion, but the SPDC warned them that their
cease-fire agreements could be annulled if they did not agree.

The convention was supposed to be adjourned on 25 March but due to the
tense atmosphere, it was adjourned only on 31 March.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 11, Thai Press Reports
Ratchaburi Governor denies problems at Myanmar (Burma) refugee camp

The governor of Thailand's central Ratchaburi Province yesterday denied
that Myanmar refugees rounded up in Bangkok and sent to a temporary
holding centre in the province were being placed in poor living
conditions, saying that everything was in accordance with the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) criteria.

Mr. Phalawat Chayanuwach said that the 400-plus Myanmar refugees in the
Baan Tham Hin Centre were not experiencing any hardships as a result of
the move, which was recently ordered by the government.

Designated by the UNHCR as 'persons of concern', the refugees are destined
to eventually go on to third countries.

According to Mr. Phalawat, the government decided to move them from
Bangkok to the border camp in order that they could all be present
simultaneously for interviews aimed at determining their eventual
countries of residence.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

April 10, The Business
Chevron to stay in mire of Myanmar - Richard Orange

ChevronTexaco plans to hang on to the $700m (£371m, ¤546m) gas field in
Myanmar acquired as part of last week's $18.4bn Unocal deal, despite
protests by human rights groups opposed to Western companies propping up
the country's repressive military regime.
A source close to the company told The Business that analysts were wrong
to predict that Chevron would sell out as part of the $2bn worth of
divestments planned from Unocal's portfolio. The source said: "The plan as
I understand it is to keep Myanmar. All the problems Unocal had with
Myanmar have been solved."

Deutsche Bank said in a research note last week: "Our expectations would
be a swift sale of this $700m asset, perhaps to the Chinese."

Unocal last month settled law suits launched against it in 1996 on behalf
of 15 Myanmar villagers who claim the company turned a blind eye to abuses
ranging from murder to torture as it constructed the Yadana gas pipeline.

Unocal said it would provide funding for health care, education and human
rights projects in the pipeline region.

But John Jackson, director of Burma Campaign UK, said on Wednesday that
the settlement would not exonerate the company: "ChevronTexaco have bought
themselves a major headache. Unless they state that they will sell off the
Burma operations as soon as possible, they will come under pressure from
investors and human rights groups."

_____________________________________

April 11, Mizzima News
Foreign Trade Office in Imphal to boost Indo-Burma trade - Surajit Khaund

In a bid to give a boost to the swelling trade with Burma,  Indian
Commerce Ministry has opened a foreign trade office in Manipur, bordering
Burma.

The office, set up yesterday at Manipur's  capital Imphal, was
necessitated by the flourishing Indo-Burma trade in recent years and quick
disposal of export and import proposals.

The new office would look after foreign trade, particularly with Burma and
other South - East Asian countries, MK Mero, Deputy Director General of
Foreign Trade, told Mizzima correspondent.

"During the last couple of years, border trade with Myanmar (Burma) has
been increasing substantially and we are targeting more in the coming days
", he said.

Asked about the Manipur Government's proposal for importing rice from
Burma, he said it was under consideration. " I have been pursuing  the
matter keeping in view the  growing demand of Burmese rice ", he added.

Despite threats from militants, border trade between India and  Burma has
been on gradual rise. However, the export growth is still poor as compared
to import. According to official statistics, the export growth is only 7
per cent as against the increase in the import at 32 per cent.

_____________________________________
ASEAN

April 11, Reuters
ASEAN skirts Myanmar issue, but rift remains - Manny Mogato

Mactan Island, Philippines: Southeast Asian foreign ministers postponed on
Monday a decision on whether Myanmar should chair the group, leaving a
rift between members over the military government's slow pace of
democratic reform.

"It has been agreed that since this is an informal meeting, we should
discuss the Myanmar issue at the upcoming ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in
Vientiane (in July)," Lao Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad, the current
ASEAN chairman, told reporters.

"It was not included in the agenda item of the meeting."

Earlier, some diplomats had said Myanmar might use the three-day informal
meeting in the central Philippines that ended on Monday to give up its
planned chairmanship of ASEAN next year.

Washington and Europe have threatened not to attend any ASEAN meetings
hosted by Myanmar. The United States also said it might withhold funding
to several development projects in the region, particularly in the poorer
countries in southeast Asia.

Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said it would be better for Myanmar
to make a decision soon to avoid dragging ASEAN into Yangon's domestic
politics.

"The earlier the decision is made, the less politicised it will be and the
less it will complicate Myanmar's own internal politics," he said, adding
there was reluctance on the part of ASEAN to take the chairmanship away
from any country.

Yeo said the Myanmar issue was discussed during a long coffee break as "an
intimate and private" family problem, with its government reminded to put
a timetable on its roadmap to democracy and freeing opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.

PATIENCE WEARS THIN

Singapore and several other ASEAN members have shown signs of impatience
with Yangon's slow reform progress, in a rare breach of the group's
long-held principle of non-interference in members' internal affairs.

As the biggest investor in the former Burma, Singapore has more clout than
most of its neighbours in exerting influence over Myanmar's ruling
generals.

Yangon has promised to bring the country back to democracy through a
series of reforms based on a seven-stage roadmap laid out in 2003 by then
prime minister Khin Nyunt, who was purged last October.

But Europe and the United States have shunned Myanmar and slapped
sanctions on Yangon since the military government's latest detention of
Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, in May 2003.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Myanmar's foreign
minister, U Nyan Win, had briefed them about the political situation in
his country, and listened as his counterparts took turns in expressing
their views and concerns.

"We didn't discuss the chairmanship because the time has not arrived," he
told reporters. "There is no necessity. If there is going to be a decision
to be made, it will be made later."

The Myanmar issue threatened to overshadow other ASEAN business at the
three-day retreat.

Lengsavad said that leaders of the 10 countries would be presented with a
draft charter at a summit in December to formalise ASEAN as a legal
entity, a move aimed at removing a barrier to deeper economic and
political cooperation.

He added that India would be invited to join the next meeting of the East
Asian community comprising ASEAN, South Korea, Japan and China. Australia
and New Zealand could also join if they agreed to certain conditions,
ministers said.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

_____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

April 11, Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)
Asean Foreign Ministers meeting in Cebu

"Burma's membership in Asean is enough for now; but allowing the junta to
chair the region is too much"

This was how Burma watchers expressed their view on Burma's controversial
chairmanship of the Asean in 2006, as they urged the Asean foreign
ministers who are meeting in Cebu from April 9 to 12 to join the mounting
demands of the international community to prevent Burma's military rulers
from chairing the region due to the junta's poor human-rights record.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo is hosting his
counterparts from Asean member-states Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in the Cebu meeting.

DO NOT REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKE
"We are urging Asean not to repeat the same mistake. It was a mistake to
accept Burma into the Asean in 1997, it will be another monumental blunder
to allow Burma's military rulers to chair the region next year," said Gus
Miclat, Executive Director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue
(IID).

Under Asean's rotation system, Burma will host the annual meeting of the
Southeast Asian leaders in 2006 and the foreign ministers meeting in 2007.
Burma will also lead a major security forum which will be attended by its
dialogue partners including the EU and the United States.

The United States  and the European Union, Burma's fiercest critics,
however warned that they will boycott further Asean meetings  if Burma
would become chair of the region.

"We are talking here in the language of justice. The Asean ministers
should realize that stripping Burma of its Asean chair is also an act of
giving justice to the 52 million population of  Burma who have suffered a
military dictatorship for 43 years now," Miclat added.

PURE BALONEY
Miclat added, "If the junta cannot efficiently govern its own country, how
do we expect it to effectively lead the region? The junta doesn't have a
pinch of moral authority to lead the Asean. Allowing it therefore to steer
the region next year is pure baloney."

IID, the secretariat of Free Burma Coalition Philippines, also called for
the immediate and unconditional release of Burmese democratic leader Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under continuing house arrest. Suu Kyi will turn
60 years old on June 19.

Miclat stressed, "For many years, the region handled Burma's military
rulers with kid gloves. Asean leaders hoped their constructive engagement
policy would ultimately result in reforms in Burma. Unfortunately, that
has not happened."

He concluded, "There is little to lose if Burma is stopped from chairing
the region. But if Asean gives the wrong signal to Burma's military
rulers, then we can expect more human rights violations and injustices
inside Burma in the coming years."

Isagani Abunda II
Advocacy Officer, Burma Program
Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)
Telefax:  (63) (2) 9110205
Tel:  (63) (2) 4352900
Web:  www.iidnet.org

_____________________________________
STATEMENT

April 8, United Nations Office of the Secretary-General
Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on Myanmar

New York: Noting their recent decision to adjourn the National Convention,
the Secretary-General urges the Myanmar authorities, in light of their
public commitments, to clarify their position with respect to the roadmap
process and its timetable so as to dispel the continuing uncertainty
surrounding this process.

The Secretary-General also urges the Myanmar authorities to use this
occasion to enhance inter-ethnic harmony and political stability by
engaging the representatives of all ethnic nationality groups and
political leaders in a substantive political dialogue aimed at national
reconciliation.

Furthermore, the Secretary-General reiterates the need for the remaining
constraints on all political leaders to be lifted, offices of the National
League for Democracy (NLD) to be allowed to reopen and for political
prisoners, including elected officials, to be released.

The Secretary-General also calls on the Myanmar authorities to allow his
Special Envoy to return to the country as soon as possible so that he can
facilitate efforts for resuming political dialogue among all the parties
concerned. He further encourages the Myanmar authorities to heed the
friendly advice of its fellow ASEAN members to expedite its reform
process.