BurmaNet News: November 14, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

November 14, 2003 Issue #2369

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar rejects report of military, nuclear ties with North Korea
Xinhua: BURMESE LEADER THAN SHWE MEETS VISITING CHINESE DELEGATION
FEER: Dangerous Bedfellows
DVB: Nuns given 13 years each for protesting in front of Rangoon City Hall
BBC: Burma gets educational soap

MONEY
Xinhua: Myanmar's mine products lead in export
UPI: Analysis: Unocal subsidiaries on hot seat

INTERNATIONAL
Radio Singapore International (Connections): Singapore-Myanmar Relations
(Transcript)

OTHER
Honolulu Star Bulletin: Film Details Asian Sex Trade


----INSIDE BURMA----
Associated Press, November 14, 2003
Myanmar rejects report of military, nuclear ties with North Korea

Myanmar on Friday dismissed a report that North Korea might be selling it
missiles and nuclear expertise, saying it has no need to develop weapons
of mass destruction while pursuing democracy.

"There has been speculation going on for quite some time regarding Myanmar
and North Korea military-to-military exchanges," government spokesman Col.
Hla Min said.

"Logically, why would Myanmar want to develop WMDs (weapons of mass
destruction) when the country needs all her strength and resources in
pursuing a peaceful, stable and smooth transition to a multiparty
democracy and an open-market economy?" Hla Min asked in a statement faxed
to The Associated Press.

Hla Min was responding to an article in the current issue of the weekly
news magazine Far Eastern Economic Review, which said there is increasing
evidence of growing military trade between North Korea and Myanmar,
including the selling of missiles and aid for a nuclear reactor.

He did not address whether Myanmar was negotiating with North Korea to buy
surface-to-surface missiles or whether North Korean technicians were
working at a naval base in Yangon, as alleged by the Review.

The Hong Kong-based magazine said diplomats and security analysts are
worried that North Korea is helping to construct a nuclear reactor at
Myothit, near Natmauk in Upper Burma.

It said Myanmar had begun negotiating for the purchase of a number of
surface-to-surface missiles from North Korea, and that about 20 North
Korean technicians were working at the Monkey Point naval base near the
capital, Yangon, possibly to install the missiles on warships.

Myanmar severed diplomatic relations with North Korea following a bombing
by North Korean commandos during a visit by then South Korean President
Chun Doo-hwan to Myanmar in 1983. Chun escaped unhurt but 21 people,
including four South Korean Cabinet ministers, were killed.

Myanmar's military regime plans to build a nuclear reactor with help from
Russia and has sent more than 300 mostly military engineers to Moscow for
training since 2001. Russia offered its assistance in developing a
reactor, which the Myanmar government said is for "peaceful research
purposes."

The Review said North Korea is increasing weapons-smuggling activities
with Myanmar at a time when both countries are under mounting pressure
from the United States - Myanmar for its suppression of democracy and
North Korea for its nuclear program.

Titled "Dangerous Bedfellows," the article said North Korea may be
supplying or planning to supply Myanmar with new weapons, possibly in
exchange for shipments of heroin.

Myanmar is one of the world's largest producers of heroin, while North
Korea has been accused of selling illegal drugs to obtain hard currency.



Xinhua, November 14, 2003
BURMESE LEADER THAN SHWE MEETS VISITING CHINESE DELEGATION

Yangon (Rangoon), 14 November: Myanmar (Burma) top leader Sr Gen Than Shwe
said on Friday (14 November) that achievement in Myanmar-China economic
and trade cooperation is obvious. Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC), made the remarks here when meeting
visiting goodwill delegation of Yunnan Province of China.

Than Shwe said the development of Myanmar-China border trade is good, with
Yunnan playing an important role. Noting that Myanmar is endowed with rich
natural resources of forestry and mining, he hoped more Chinese
entrepreneurs will make investment in the country. The delegation arrived
here on Monday on a four-day visit at the invitation of the Ministry of
Commerce.


Far Eastern Economic Review, November 20, 2003
Dangerous Bedfellows
By Bertil Lintner and Shawn W. Crispin

Evidence of a blossoming military relationship between pariah regimes in
Rangoon and Pyongyang is causing growing concern overseas SIGNS OF GROWING
MILITARY ties between North Korea and Burma's ruling junta are stirring
concern among United States and Asian security officials. In recent
months, Rangoon- and Bangkok-based diplomats say they've detected fresh
indications that Pyongyang may be supplying or planning to supply Burma
with new weapons, possibly in exchange for shipments of heroin.

Among other new developments, Burma has begun negotiating the purchase of
a number of surface-to-surface missiles from North Korea, U.S. and Asian
officials believe. About 20 North Korean technicians are working at the
Monkey Point naval base near Rangoon, possibly to prepare to install the
missiles on Burmese warships, Rangoon-based diplomats say. The envoys,
citing on-the-ground intelligence reports, say the technicians are
residing at a Burmese Defence Ministry guest house in a northern Rangoon
suburb.

More worrying, some Rangoon-based Asian diplomats say North Korean
technicians have been spotted by intelligence operatives unloading large
crates and heavy construction equipment from trains at Myothit. The
diplomats note that Myothit is the closest station to the central Burmese
town of Natmauk, near where the junta hopes to build a nuclear-research
reactor. Aircraft from North Korea's national airline, Air Koryo, have
been seen landing at military airfields in central Burma, they say.

What is particularly alarming is that these indications of military
cooperation come at a time when both countries are under mounting
political pressure from the U.S.--North Korea to halt its nuclear
brinksmanship and Burma to open a real dialogue with its political
opposition. An alliance between two pariah states up against the wall
could be dangerous for the region and beyond, especially as one of them
may have nuclear-weapons technology that it is ready to export, analysts
say.

The U.S., anxious to curb nuclear proliferation, is clearly worried.
"Regimes like North Korea's . . . obviously look upon the sale of WMD
[weapons of mass destruction] as just a neat way to gain hard currency.
And almost automatically they have a fairly limited market--terrorist
groups, rogue states and pariah states," says a senior U.S. administration
official. "It's a concern, whoever they end up selling that stuff to, and
we are trying to take steps to limit it and get it under control."

The signs of growing military ties have also coincided with the arrival of
representatives of the Daesong Economic Group--an enterprise under Bureau
39, which is charged with earning foreign currency for North Korea--in
Burma, according to Rangoon-based diplomats who have seen official
documents detailing Daesong's activity in Burma. Daesong-affiliated
companies have a documented history of exporting sensitive missile
technologies. In the past, North Korea has also used Daesong-affiliated
companies to purchase and import dual-purpose technologies used in
Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons programme. One of these, Changgwang Sinyong,
played a key role in Pakistan's nuclear-weapons programme in the 1990s,
according to the U.S. State Department, which sanctioned Changgwang in
1998 and 2001 for selling missile-related technology to Pakistan.

Diplomats believe Burma's rapprochement with North Korea is linked to its
concern that it is vulnerable to a U.S. military attack, especially after
the Iraq War. A recent classified State Department report seen by the
REVIEW expresses concern that Pyongyang is supplying "small arms,
ammunition, artillery, and missiles" to Burma. It doesn't mention North
Korean activity at Natmauk, nor does it refer to Daesong. But a senior
U.S. Senate staffer says the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is
monitoring developments at Natmauk.

"The link-up of these two pariah states can only spell trouble. North
Korea's main export is dangerous weapons technology," said Senator Richard
Lugar, chairman of the committee, in a prepared statement for the REVIEW.
Noting State Department reports that Burma has been receiving weapons from
Pyongyang, he warned: "These developments are the seeds of a major threat
to Asian security and stability."

Hla Min, a spokesman for Burma's ruling junta, calls reports of increasing
military links between Rangoon and Pyongyang and North Korea
"speculative," citing in particular reports about North Korean involvement
in constructing the nuclear reactor. Replying to faxed questions from the
REVIEW, Hla Min said: "Why would [Burma] want to develop weapons of mass
destruction, when the country needs all her strength and resources" to
pursue a "transition to multi-party democracy and an open market economy?"
He didn't respond to questions about a possible missile purchase from
Pyongyang. North Korean officials could not be reached for comment.

Anxiety over Burma's military moves has prompted at least one neighbour to
take countermeasures. In late October, Thailand took delivery of an
undisclosed number of medium-range air-to-air missiles from the U.S.,
nominally to guard against the threat of terrorism, but more likely to
strengthen its defences, say military analysts. In 2002, Burma purchased a
number of MiG-29 combat jets from Russia, a move analysts view as a
response to Thailand's fleet of U.S.-supplied F-18s.

Apart from the U.S. pressure, which includes tough new sanctions imposed
in July, Burma has come under rare pressure from its colleagues in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations to renew a political dialogue with
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. China, too, has recently begun to waver
in its significant military and economic support of the junta.

SIMILAR MINDSETS Rangoon's growing isolation, diplomats and regional
security experts say, is prompting the military government to seek new
ways to maintain its grip on power and neutralize perceived threats,
especially from the U.S. Burma's military, for example, is constructing a
massive bunker near the central Burmese town of Taungdwingyi to shield its
MiG-29s from possible U.S. attack, according to Rangoon-based envoys.
"[North Korea and Burma] share a similar sort of mindset," says a
Bangkok-based Western diplomat. "They have both drawn their wagons into a
circle ready to defend themselves. [Burma's generals] admire the North
Koreans for standing up to the United States and wish they could do the
same. But they haven't got the same bargaining power as the North
Koreans."

That's led some security officials to fear Rangoon might try to buy more
potent weaponry from North Korea. In particular, these officials are
scrutinizing activity near Natmauk. In 2002, Russia agreed to sell Burma a
nuclear reactor for medical research and to provide assistance for its
construction and operation. But Moscow shelved the project earlier this
year because the junta couldn't pay for it.

Now, some Western and Asian diplomats and regional security analysts with
links to Thai military intelligence suggest Pyongyang wants to help the
junta restart construction of the reactor. "We are watching the situation
at Natmauk very, very closely," says a Bangkok-based Western diplomat who
recently visited Burma. It's not clear how poverty-stricken Rangoon, which
lacks foreign currency, is paying for any military hardware or assistance
it's receiving from North Korea. But some Western security officials
suspect Rangoon is using drugs to pay. A senior U.S. official, for
example, suggests Pyongyang and Rangoon have recently entered into an
arrangement, whereby Burma supplies high-grade heroin to North Korea in
exchange for missiles and possibly nuclear know-how.

To back up such claims, officials note that at least two North Korean
ships have been implicated in smuggling Burmese "Double U-O Globe" brand
heroin into Taiwan and Australia since 2002. Russian police have recently
seized Burmese heroin carried by North Korean intelligence agents on their
mutual border, according to news reports. "We're very suspicious that
they're cooperating on drugs," says a senior U.S. official in Washington,
citing intelligence reports that Pyongyang agents have recently been
spotted in Burma's Golden Triangle opium-producing region.



Democratic Voice of Burma, November 13, 2003
Nuns given 13 years each for protesting in front of Rangoon City Hall

Two Buddhist nuns who staged a protest in front of Rangoon City Hall to
highlight the plights of Burmese people were each given 13 year prison
sentence at a court inside Insein Prison in September.
The two were charged with having contact with illegal organisations and
leaving the country without permission.
The NLD Legal Support team lodged an appeal at a court in western Rangoon
but the judge rejected their appeal without hearing the case.
Daw Than Than Htay and Daw Thin Thin Oo are from a famous nunnery in Pegu
and they were arrested on 16 January while staging a protest in front of
the City Hall.
After they were arrested, the two were forced to disrobe and tortured for
interrogation by the military intelligence agents.
They are still not allowed to see their relatives.


BBC, November 14, 2003
Burma gets educational soap

Burma's first soap opera goes on air on Friday, aimed at highlighting
health issues in a country where diseases such as HIV/Aids carry a social
taboo.

Thabyegone Ywa, or Eugenia Tree Village, is produced by BBC World Service
Trust, an independent charity which aims to reduce poverty through the
media.

The programme, set in a small village in Bago province, aims to break
stigmas and raise awareness about medical choices open to Burma's poor.

One storyline shows the reactions of the villagers to a 29-year-old local
flower seller, Myint Soe, and his family, after he becomes HIV-positive.

Other characters include a farmer, spirit medium, monks, doctors and a
traditional birth attendant.

Tim Williams, project director of the BBC World Service Trust, which is
funded by the UK's Department for International Development, said the
programmes would provide a chance to raise debate about difficult and
controversial subjects.

For example, he said, the fact that women in Burma found to be carrying a
condom face arrest for being prostitutes made a strong storyline, as well
as making people think.

"Given the international sanctions and internal economic collapse, medical
care cannot effectively support the increasing number of people suffering
from poverty related diseases," Mr Williams said.

"There is anecdotal evidence that if somebody contracts either TB or
HIV... you will find people are put in outbuildings at the end of the
garden and only parents will go and feed them," he said.

"We want to raise awareness that they can still play a role in society,"
he said.

As for treatment, "we will be looking at what is practical. We won't
necessarily be pooh-poohing all the home-based medicines that people use
because some are useful."

Mr Williams said the country's military junta had not been hostile towards
the programme.

"This is not a political programme; it's about something the Burmese
Government itself is trying to tackle," he said.

A 15-minute episode of Thabyegone Ywa will be broadcast twice a week, and
both episodes will be repeated in an omnibus edition on Sundays. The
programme should reach the estimated 10-16 million people who listen to
the BBC Burmese Service every week.

The World Service Trust has also produced educational soap operas in
Russia, Afghanistan, Albania and Romania.

Thabyegone Ywa will be broadcast from London on Fridays and Saturdays at
2040 Burmese Time; 14.10 GMT and in an Omnibus version on Sundays at 2020
Burmese Time, 13.50 GMT, on the shortwave frequencies of the BBC Burmese
Service: 7135 (41m); 9540 (31m); 11685 (25m); 15295 (19m).

----MONEY----
Xinhua, November 14, 2003
Myanmar's mine products lead in export

The export of mine products in Myanmar reached 429.68 million US dollars
in the first half of 2003, standing the largest in export value
categorically, said a latest report of the local Business Tank.

The mine products export represented 34.4 percent of the country's total
export of over 1.24 billion dollars during the six- month period, the
custom data was quoted as saying.

The export was followed by agricultural products (233.01 million dollars),
textile and garment (214.48 million dollars), and timber and forest
products (180.45 million dollars).

In 2002, the mine products exports went to 932.77 million dollars, taking
up 37.9 percent of the total which stood over 2.46 billion dollars,
according to the data.

Meanwhile, about a dozen of foreign companies from Australia, Canada,
China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States have
been involved in the mineral exploration in Myanmar and foreign contracted
investment in the sector has reached 526.49 million dollars in 52 projects
since the country opened to such investment in late 1988, according to
official statistics.

To develop its mining industry, Myanmar has sponsored three rounds of
competitive biddings for mineral prospecting and exploration in the
country in 1994, 1995 and 1997 respectively with a total of 35 blocks
having been granted to foreign companies.

The bid for the fourth round of mineral exploration in 42 blocks was
extended by the government in August 2002.


United Press International, November 14, 2003
Analysis: Unocal subsidiaries on hot seat

A closely watched trial that will pit human rights activists against
Unocal could fizzle before it reaches a California jury if the judge in
the case decides the oil company's Myanmar subsidiaries were in fact
actual and autonomous companies.

Hearings that begin Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court will
eventually lead to a determination of whether or not Unocal's subsidiaries
in Myanmar are, in fact, legitimate companies or merely the 'alter ego'of
a U.S.-based parent company that pulled the strings during the
construction of the $1 billion Yadana Pipeline during the 1990s.

'The key issue here is that these subsidiaries have their own ample
financial resources to pay any bills or, conceivably, any judgments in
this case,'said Daniel Petrocelli, the attorney representing Unocal.
'It could have a significant impact on the trial,'he added.

Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney is in the midst of setting ground
rules for the case that is scheduled to go to trial next month and is
being carefully watched by the international business community and the
human rights movement.

Should Unocal prevail, it would bolster the notion that American companies
should not be considered under U.S. law to be co-conspirators with
repressive foreign governments simply because they make investments
overseas.

'In most cases, the defendant companies have violated no laws, either our
own or the laws of the foreign country,'Daniel T. Griswold, director of
the Cato Institute's Center for Foreign Trade Policy Studies, said in a
recent statement. 'Yet they are being sued because of nothing more than
guilt by association.'

On the other side of the coin, human rights groups see the legal hammer of
the Alien Tort Claims Act, which was passed in 1789, as a hammer aimed at
American companies they see as the financial supporters of thuggish banana
republic dictatorships.

At the core of the Unocal case is the allegation that through its
subsidiaries, Unocal gave tacit approval to the allegedly rough methods
the military government in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, used to
supply the labor and security for the project. Charges include the
forcible dragooning of civilians along the pipeline route into hard
physical labor carried out in squalid jungle conditions.

Lawyers from Earthrights International and other organizations and
representing 15 alleged victims of abuse are seeking compensation for,
among other things, wrongful death and unlawful enrichment. The target of
their suit, however, is Unocal and not the Myanmar junta or the subsidiary
companies that own shares of the pipeline venture.

Unocal has a great deal riding on how Chaney rules on the question of, as
Petrocelli told United Press International, 'whether or not Unocal's
subsidiaries are real companies or sham companies.'

In her July 30 ruling that California law applied in the case, Chaney
wrote that Unocal had 'specific knowledge that forced labor was likely,
and nevertheless chose to proceed.'

The situation puts Unocal and its shareholders in the crosshairs of what
could potentially be huge damages, however Petrocelli and his colleagues
still have an out left if they convince the judge that Myanmar
subsidiaries should bear responsibility and that Unocal's corporate
offices were merely bystanders.

'Defendant Unocal knew that the SLORC (the junta's State Law and Order
Restoration Council) and its military and intelligence forces committed
human rights abuses, including forced labor and forced relocations in
connection with the Yadana gas pipeline project,'the plaintiffs complaint
alleged.

If, however, Chaney decides the subsidiaries were more than merely
Unocal's 'alter ego,'it would let Unocal off the hook, Petrocelli said.
The subsidiaries would actually be safe as well since they are not named
in the lawsuit and the statute of limitations precludes them from being
sued separately.

Petrocelli implied that the plaintiffs had overplayed their hands in
deciding that Unocal, Thailand's PTTEP and the French oil company Total
were in cahoots with the SLORC and knowingly benefited from the alleged
wrongdoing that occurred during the pipeline's construction.

'Just because they have a parent company doesn't change anything,'he told
UPI.

He predicted that Chaney would agree that Unocal's subsidiaries were
running their own show in Myanmar and both carried the risks from the
project and was in line to receive its profits once the pipeline became
operational.

He also ventured that the case was never about money in the first place,
and had been filed primarily for the 'publicity'it would generate against
the SLORC and the Myanmar junta in the backyard of the American media, a
venue where the details of the alleged outrages would at least be aired in
public and validated by a judge and jury.

'The subsidiaries have deep pockets,'he argued, 'but there is no publicity
you can get by suing Unocal in Myanmar.'


----INTERNATIONAL----
Singapore Radio International (Connections), November 13, 2003
Singapore-Myanmar Relations (Transcript)

Coming up in this edition of Connections, join me as I take a look at the
ties between Singapore and Myanmar. Welcome to the programme. I’m Yvonne
Gomez. At the recent 2003 ASEAN summit in Bali, ASEAN leaders lent their
support to Myanmar’s newly appointed Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt’s
"roadmap" to democracy.

This sparked critcism from many quarters, especially with the continuing
detention of freedom fighter, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister,
Professor S. Jayakumar defended the stance taken by ASEAN.

SJ: There are no realistic options other than diplomacy, whether it is
quiet or otherwise. The reality is that, like it or not, the understanding
and cooperation of the Myanmar authorities is essential, for change in
Myanmar. Public condemnation is likely to be counter-productive, and given
the limited integration of Myanmar into the world economy, the effect of
sanctions will be only limited. They’ll only push Myanmar into further
isolation. But Singapore has made clear our position that we do not
believe, that the current situation in Myanmar serves Myanmar’s interests,
or the interests of the region as a whole.

The Myanmar issue was discussed at several regional meetings recently,
like the ASEAN summit in Bali, and the APEC meeting in Bangkok.

Dr Sunai Phasuk from Forum Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, recalls how it was
played out at the APEC summit.

SP: When it came to APEC, the issue was brought to the negotiation table,
especially between President Bush and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of
Thailand. But there appears to be a significant change, that the issue of
Burma has been reduced only to the status and safety of Aung San Suu Kyi,
leader of the National League of Democracy in Burma. And if that is the
case, it shows successful diplomatic manoeuvering, political manoeuvering
of the SPDC in convincing the US government to only discuss the status and
safety of Aung San Suu Kyi, because there is a rumour that the SPDC may
greet the UN Special Envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, who is scheduled to
visit Burma very soon, with a big surprise, that may include the release
of Aung San Suu Kyi and key members of the National League for Democracy.

YG: ASEAN normally operates on a policy of non-interference, but at this
summit, they actually deviated from that for a change, so do you think
this could spell a move towards more engagement in the policies of
neighbouring countries?

SP: On the issue of Burma, it’s interesting to observe the dynamism in
ASEAN diplomacy. Before the summit, we observed more pro-active comments
coming from almost everyone in the ASEAN community – Cambodia, Malaysia,
Singapore, the Philippines and Indoensia – calling on the SPDC to release
Aung San Suu Kyi, and to think of how the situation in Burma may affect
the reputation of the entire regional community. But when it came to the
actual summit itself, ASEAN somehow shied back to its traditional
approach, which left matters to domestic settlement, into the hands and
consideration of the SPDC. As the US State Department pointed out, Burma
is a source of instability in Southeast Asia, but the position at ASEAN
showed ignorance.

YG: What do you think the US can do, or should the US do anything at all?

SP: So far, for Burma, although the US sanctions cannot have a direct
impact on the SPDC themselves, but the sanctions have hurt countries that
have influence over the SPDC, particularly China, and that effect has led
to some positive development regarding the change or reshuffle of the SPDC
cabinet, and the gradual transferring of Aung San Suu Kyi from absolute
and incommunicado detention, into house arrest, and may further lead to
the release of Aung San Suu Kyi in the future. But we need to see if the
gestures from the SPDC will be comprehensive, or if it would rather focus
on Aung San Suu Kyi, and leave the big, messy political suppression and
human rights violations inside the country, unaddressed.

Dr Sunai Phasuk from Forum Asia in Bangkok Thailand.

So has the political backdrop in Myanmar affected its economic ties in the
neighbourhood? Looking at Singapore’s ties with Myanmar, Dr Tin Maung
Maung Than from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore
summarises the economic relationship between the two countries.

TMMT: Singapore’s relationship with Myanmar is basically in foreign direct
investment, and some trade. Singapore’s investment, including GLCs
(government-linked corporations) and private companies is something like
1.5 to 1.6 billlion US dollars of committed funds, which is about 21% of
the total committed funds of about 7.5 billion dollars in Myanmar, as of
January this year. So it’s quite a substantial amount, relatively
speaking.

YG: Can you give me some specifics on what exactly Singapore has invested
in, in Myanmar?

TMMT: There’s no disaggregation among Myanmar statistics, that’s the
problem, but it’s kind of common knowledge that in the hotel and tourism
industry, with about 1 billion dollars, Singapore’s investment plays a
very substantial part.

YG: When we spoke earlier, you mentioned something about Singapore being a
very pragmatic investor. Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?

TMMT: Well, when Myanmar opened up in the early 1990s, quite a few
Singaporean investors went in, into this budding and nascent industry of
tourism, and also manufacturing. When the situation became less amenable
for investments due to various external and internal factors, the
investment flows stopped. But whatever happened, some of them continued to
produce and some of them are on hold. Right now, I think there is a little
bit of activity. There is a Singapore entrepreneurs kind of a business
group in Myanmar, as far as I know. And there is also a technical
co-peration agreeement between the Myanmar and Singapore governments,
because of this new ASEAN member CLMV bridging divide between the older
and newer members. So there’s an assistance programme, training and so on,
between G to G.

YG: Now some people have come out to say that sanctions by the US won’t
work because the Myanmar economy is already isolated. But do you think
that, using Singapore as an example, like when the situation is not good
there, the investors pull out, and I’m sure it’s the same for other
investors to Myanmar, something like this would affect the Myanmar
government and make it move towards democracy?

TMMT: The causation is not very clear, because it does affect Myanmar.
Because any modern economy that wants to be plugged into the international
and global economy, will be affected by some form of sanctions by the more
advanced countries. But on the other hand, Myanmar is a mixed country, in
which there is a subsistence sector, there is an informal sector, and
there is a so-called modern sector. The modern sector is affected by
lay-offs because of sanctions, withdrawals and pull-outs. But most of the
ASEAN investments, which are in tourism – when you build a hotel, you
can’t pull out – you may close off one wing or go on a slower basis.

YG: What kind of engagement do you think should actually take place
between ASEAN and Myanmar, that would result in a positive outcome?

TMMT: Well, ASEAN has, at least in the last AMM (ASEAN Ministerial
Meeting), expressed concern. But at the summit, they agreed that the
seven-point plan of the Myanmar Prime Minister should be given a chance to
work. So at the moment, they are not pushing anything. They are just
encouraging Myanmar to go its own way. So I think that seems to be the
pattern nowadays. Although it’s not completely adhering to the principle
of non-interference, they do comment on it. But once there is an
explanation from the party concerned, which is a member country, they are
willing to accept it at face value and give it the benefit of the doubt.

YG: Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

TMMT: Well, whether it works or not is another thing, right? So if you
agree that encouragement is the best thing, to a regime which has a very
high pain threshold. It’s not the best solution, maybe the second or third
best solution.

And that was Dr Tin Maung Maung Than from the Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies in Singapore.

And perhaps Dr Tin is right, that Singapore does take a pragmatic
approach, and has to. Foreign Affairs Minister, Professor Jayakumar
explained why.

SJ: The Myanmar authorities understand that Singapore has no ulterior
motive and that we act in good faith. But in the final analysis, they have
to make their own decisions based on their own assessments of what is in
their country’s interest. The situation in Myanmar is very complicated.
Other countries may have their own views, and their own way of approaching
the issue. They may also have their own motives. Singapore must be guided
by its own national interests. Singapore will continue to do whatever we
can in our own way.


----OTHER----
Honolulu Star Bulletin, November 14, 2003
Film Details Asian Sex Trade
By Tim Ryan

Watching "Anonymously Yours" by Massachusetts filmmaker Gayle Ferraro
about the sex trade in Burma, China and Thailand is a little like a trip
to the dentist. You know you need to see him and you'll feel good about
yourself when it's over, but it's still a difficult experience.

This 88-minute film, which has its theatrical world premiere today at The
Art House at Restaurant Row, shows through surreptitious photography and
clandestine interviews the cruel life fate has dealt four young women sold
into sexual slavery -- one at age 10 -- by parents and sometimes friends'
parents, to pay off debts or to support their families.

The film, made in November 2000, is disturbing because it exposes the
commonplace bartering and selling of women, and the hopeless cycles of
poverty that enslaves them. It is so painful to watch, though no physical
violence is depicted, that PBS declined to broadcast it because officials
there thought it was too depressing, said Ferraro, who screened the
documentary at the Hawaii International Film Festival that just ended on
Oahu. The film, however, has been sold to the Sundance Channel.

"I always thank audiences for coming and sitting through the film and
exposing themselves to something so emotional," Ferraro said. "But you
have to think of the girls that this is about."

This wasn't an easy film to make inside military-controlled Burma, now
Myanmar. Ferraro and her two-female crew of a photographer and sound
technician were in constant danger.

"We took the video cameras apart ... and divided it into pieces, then
entered the country at three different times, three different locations,
three different airlines," Ferraro said. Then they met and reassembled the
cameras.

That was just the beginning. They later had to smuggle the tapes out of
Burma, by playing obnoxious tourists, speaking in codes and making secret
rendezvous.

"We couldn't say what we meant because we knew people were listening,"
Ferraro said. "It was maddening, but we had to develop some code that we
only understood."

They used a kind of code to get Ferraro's college friend to arrange
interviews with four women, most in off-limits rural villages.

According to Ferraro, Burmese authorities require hotels and guest houses
to provide information about the identities and activities of their
foreign guests. Burmese who interact with foreigners may be compelled,
under consequence of torture or death, to report such interactions to the
Burmese government.

FERRARO WAS headed to India to do a film but stopped in Burma to visit a
friend and former college classmate, a Burmese social worker, who
counseled women and girls after they had been freed by the government
following brothel raids.

"I was stunned by the stories of slavery, rape and violence," she said. "I
thought that maybe by doing a film about this problem and interviewing the
women, just maybe I could make some change.

"In the forbidden townships, we took turns playing the curiosity-seeking,
mindless tourist out for a bit of fun, and the serious filmmaker," Ferraro
said.

Burmese officials twice detained Ferraro's group. "I literally had no
feelings, I was so afraid," Ferraro said. "I could barely think or talk."
The subjects' stories differ, but they complete the picture of a business
that enslaves as many as 40 million women.

"Brothels are in the back rooms of tea shops and restaurants and five-star
western hotels," she said.

When Zuzu, 17, tries to break away from one brothel and returns to her
disappointed family -- leaving them without money to live on -- an aunt
pretends to take the teenager on an outing but instead sells her to a
Chinese brothel.

It's here that we learn about the leech pond. Leeches gorged with blood
apparently are a Chinese delicacy. So a pond is filled with the creatures
and three prostitutes are forced into it until the leeches are gorged.
Then the women are removed and the insects farmed. Domestic animals are
too valuable to use in the pond.

Zuzu, whose girlfriend's mother sold her into sexual slavery, rationalizes
her treatment by saying the girls are fed well. With a shy smile, she
seems to struggle to retain her dignity and sense of humor.

"I wonder what English-speaking people will think of this," she says
looking into the camera. "Please don't think badly of me."

None of the girls' families are introduced, and the lines between
perpetrator and victim are blurred. By the film's end, the audience is
made to hope that reformed prostitutes can create new and better lives for
themselves. Zuzu ends up marrying a physically abusive man and finds work,
ironically, in a condom factory.

ONCE THE FILM was completed, Ferraro still had to smuggle the tapes out of
the country. Then the elderly relative of her Burmese friend asked Ferraro
to take gifts to her daughter in America.

She used an oversized tribal drum and crates of souvenirs to hide the
contraband, then used her acting skills to expedite the customs search. "I
made this big fuss. ... They were so glad after half an hour of dealing
with me that they just let me go through with the last tapes."

Back in the United States, Ferraro could not find a distributor for her
film for six months, and was rejected by film festivals, TV stations and
theaters. Then came an invitation to the 2002 Montreal World Film
Festival.

"People were receptive but unprepared for what they saw," she said.
"Everyone was crying."