BurmaNet News April 19, 2005

[Editor]

April 19, 2005 Issue # 2700

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: NLD opposes Shan State independence
Xinhua: Myanmar leader urges safeguarding perpetuation of union
Xinhua: Myanmar declares Shan ethnic group as outlawed organization

ON THE BORDER
Thai Press Reports: Border skirmishes ‘not related to Myanmar’

ASEAN
Bangkok Post via BBC: Thai senators campaign against Burma's ASEAN
chairmanship
Xinhua: Philippines not to initiate move to deny Myanmar ASEAN chairmanship

REGIONAL
Thai Press Reports: New labour rules in Rangoon not a worry, Thailand’s
Supreme Commander

INTERNATIONAL
Nation: US-Thai relations: Ties could turn sour over Burma
Mizzima: New Zealand trade unions urge govt. for sanction on Burma
Thai Press Reports: US Senator criticizes India and China over Myanmar issue

OPINION / OTHER
Straits Times: Myanmar question: Asean dilemma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 19, Irrawaddy
NLD opposes Shan State independence - Nandar Chann

Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy,
announced on Tuesday it would not support the recent declaration of Shan
State independence by exiled Shan politicians.

“The NLD will not accept any activities and plans not in accordance with
the party’s policy, including forming a parallel government,” the NLD said
in a statement issued in Rangoon.

The NLD statement made clear that the party aims to build a genuine union
of Burma without the secession of any of its component states.

The Shan independence declaration was made on Sunday by a group of elderly
Shan leaders in exile, including Sao Surkhanpha, the eldest son of Burma’s
first president, Sao Shwe Thaike. Sao Surkhanpa lives in Canada.

The declaration said an independent Shan government was being formed
because the Shan people were being ruled at present by an oppressive
military regime. The group claimed to have the support of the local
populations of 48 of 56 townships in Shan State.

A warning that the secession move could lead to great oppression within
Shan State was sounded by Sao Surkhanpha’s own brother, Harn Yawnghwe, who
is director of the Brussels-based Euro-Burma Office.

The declaration of independence follows the arrest of several prominent
Shan leaders in February on charges that they had tried to bring about
“the disintegration of the Union.”

“The activities of the group are very dangerous to the stability of the
state (and) national solidarity and (would) lead to disintegration of the
Union,” Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan, Minister of Information, claimed at a news
conference in Rangoon on March 15.

____________________________________

April 19, Xinhua News Agency
Myanmar leader urges safeguarding perpetuation of union

First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Lieutenant-General Thein Sein has urged his people to safeguard the
perpetuation of the union as a national duty.

Thein Sein made the call when meeting cultural troupes here on Monday from
various nationalities across the country who were invited to join the
just-ended Myanmar traditional water festival in last weekend, state-run
newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.

The nationalities include Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Naga, Mon, Rakhine,
Shan and Palaung.

Thein Sein said the government is striving for equal development of
national races who have been living together in the long course of
history.

"As long as all the national races are united, the perpetuation of the
union will last forever," he said, adding that the government has laid
emphasis on building national reconsolidation which has brought peace now
to border areas.

"With the government's systematic development projects, transport
facilities, economy, education and health standards of border areas have
improved and border towns have also emerged," he pointed out.

He stressed the respective roles of the nationalities in the participation
of the implementation of the government's seven- point roadmap to
democracy which was announced in August 2003 and was outlined as
reconvening the long-suspended national convention to draw up a new
constitution as the first step, followed by undergoing a national
referendum on draft of the constitution, holding a general election to
produce parliament representatives and forming a new democratic
government.

Myanmar, with 135 nationalities, is made up of seven states and seven
divisions totaling 14.

____________________________________

April 19, Xinhua News Agency
Myanmar declares Shan ethnic group as outlawed organization

Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Senior-General
Than Shwe has declared a Shan ethnic group of Sao Kai Hpa, son of the
first Myanmar President Nyaung Shwe Sao Shwe Htike, as outlawed
organization, Radio Myanmar quoted an order of the Ministry of Home
Affairs as reporting Tuesday night.

Other groups and individuals linked with the organization were also
outlawed because of their acts that undermine the law and order and the
stability of the state, said the order signed by Major-General Maung Oo,
minister of home affairs.

On April 17, The Shan ethnic group declared the formation of an
independent Shan State Federal Government to secede from the Union of
Myanmar.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 19, Thai Press Reports
Border skirmishes ‘not related to Myanmar’

The chief of the 3rd Army Area Command, Lt. Gen. Phichanmet Muangmanee,
has downplayed the political implications of yesterday's skirmish between
border control police and a group of armed men from across the Myanmar
border, stressing that the group were merely bandits and had nothing to do
with Myanmar's internal political situation.

Speaking yesterday in response to the incident in Mae Ai district of
Thailand's northern province of Chiang Mai, in which a border control
officer was killed, Lt. Gen. Phichanmet said although the gunmen were
wearing Myanmar military uniforms, these might have been stolen.

Noting that Myanmar had refuted suggestions that their soldiers might have
been involved in the incident, he described the group as ordinary bandits
who wanted to steal from Thai villagers, and said that the incident had
nothing to do with fighting on the Myanmar side of the border.

Today over 100 officers from the 334 border control police division
continued their hunt for the as yet unidentified group, expressing
confidence that members of the group had been injured and were still
hiding out in the local jungle.

Military officers have also mobilized reinforcements along the border to
prevent the group escaping back into Myanmar.

_____________________________________
ASEAN

April 19, Bangkok Post via BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
Thai senators campaign against Burma's ASEAN chairmanship

Text of report by Supawadee Susanpoolthong, published in English by Thai
newspaper Bangkok Post web site on 19 April

The Senate plans to hold an urgent meeting to clarify its stance on the
controversial question of Burma taking up the rotating chairmanship of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year. Senator Kraisak
Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign affairs, told the
Senate yesterday the time had come to make it known to the world whether
Thailand was also opposed to Burma becoming ASEAN chairman.

Mr Kraisak said Thailand needed to make its stand clear since many ASEAN
nations now publicly oppose Burma being given the post. Moves to block
Burma's succession were made during the recent ASEAN foreign ministers
meeting, with the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia being the key
opponents to Burma taking up the job.

The US has also announced that it would not send its secretary of state to
future ASEAN meetings if Burma took over the chairmanship, he said.
"Thailand is under heavy criticism for sticking to an unclear stance as to
whether she would support Burma or not. "As long as the issue is left
undecided, Thailand's image will be tarnished in the eyes of the world
community and this may also affect her free trade agreements with the US,"
Mr Kraisak said.

He said earlier representatives from the Southeast Asian nations, together
with 79 Thai senators, had signed their names in a petition to oppose
Burma's succession because it had refused to pay heed to repeated
international calls to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
other political prisoners and put Burma back on the road to democracy.

In response to Mr Kraisak's request, Senate Speaker Suchon Chaleekure
asked the senator to propose the issue as an urgent motion so that the
Senate could consider it immediately. Mr Suchon also promised to order an
investigation into an allegation made by Senator Somkiart Onwimol, of
Suphan Buri, that some senators had received money from certain
politicians, which is contrary to the constitution. The speaker also said
a Senate committee was sounding out the opinions of members of relevant
organizations on whether or not it should push for any changes to the
constitution.

_____________________________________

April 19, Xinhua News Agency
Philippines not to initiate move to deny Myanmar ASEAN chairmanship

The Philippines will not initiate moves to deny Myanmar its forthcoming
rotating chairmanship of the ASEAN next year, Philippine President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo said on Tuesday.

Arroyo said the Philippines would go by the ASEAN consensus regarding the
issue.

Several Filipino senators have called on the ASEAN governments to strip
Myanmar of the ASEAN chairmanship because of its political and human
rights problems.

"It would be imprudent for the Philippines because if Myanmar loses the
chairmanship, we are the chairman so it's not proper for the Philippines
to initiate it." Arroyo said in a press conference.

The 10 ASEAN countries take over the group's rotating chairmanship
according to alphabetic order of the spelling of their countrie.

The Philippines will chair the ASEAN chairmanship in 2007 and Arroyo said
she wanted to hold the summit in Clark, Pampanga to highlight the
development of the special economic zone north of Manila.

The president said the matter might be discussed on an informal basis when
the ASEAN leaders meet on the sidelines of the Asian African summit in
Jakarta, Indonesia later this week.

She said it was already tackled during the ASEAN foreign ministers'meeting
in Mactan, Cebu, last week though there was no consensus reached despite
mounting calls for the military-ruled country to be denied the role.

At a retreat in Mactan, the ASEAN ministers decided to defer the decision
until an ASEAN ministerial meeting in Laos in July.

The ASEAN members are divided over the issue as the Philippines, Singapore
and Malaysia demand real democratic change in Myanmar while Cambodia
,Vietnam and Laos have taken a more reserved stand invoking ASEAN's long
held tradition of consensus building and non- interference in the affairs
of the members.

The United States and the European Union, which have imposed sanctions on
Myanmar, have been pressuring the regional grouping to block its
chairmanship.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said he expected " vigorous
debates" over Myanmar continued pressure from the US and the EU.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 19, Thai Press Reports
New labour rules in Rangoon not a worry, Thailand’s Supreme Commander

Thailand's Supreme Commander urged Thai employers not to worry too much
about cheap labour shortage, saying that moves by Rangoon to register
their citizens working abroad will help ease law enforcement burden in
Thailand.

Speaking to reporters today, Gen. Chaisith Shinawatra said the
registration of migrant workers by Rangoon will take some time to
complete.

Thai industries including the fishing fleet rely heavily on cheap but,
sometimes, illegal labour from Myanmar. The Myanmar government recently
issued a command for its citizens working in Thailand to go home for
register properly, promising that before they can return thereafter to
work in Thailand.

Gen. Chaisith urged Thai operators to see this as a positive development.

Dealing with paper works will require more than a couple of days, the
Supreme Commander said.

While praising the government of Myanmar's 'act of good will' to regulate
the sector, Gen. Chaisith said Thai employers need not worry too much that
that pool of cheap labour will no longer be available.

"Please have sympathy for law enforcement officers who had to constantly
crack down on illegal migrant workers. After this registration process, a
system regulating migrant labour as applied in civilised country will be
instituted," said the Supreme Commander.

Gen. Chaisith added that it will be nice if Rangoon would repatriate
refugees currently detained in various centres who wish to return.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 18, The Nation
US-Thai relations: Ties could turn sour over Burma - Kavi Chongkittavorn

Washington: Congress expected to put pressure on Thailand for stance
towards Rangoon, treatment of refugees

Despite unprecedented goodwill in the Bush administration, Thai-US
relations could face a major storm in the coming months, if not sooner.
The US Congress will put Thailand under intense scrutiny for its policy
towards Burma, including the repatriation of Burmese refugees, and for
violations of human rights.

Juxtaposed views of Thailand will play out in the open in Washington when
Congress debates the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act, before a vote on its
renewal.

Both Republican and Democratic sources in the Congress say that the law,
which has banned all Burmese exports to the US since 2003, will be renewed
because the situation in Burma has worsened. The sources say the debate
will again focus on Thailand’s support of the Rangoon regime, and Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s business interests in the pariah state will
also be questioned.

Furthermore, Thaksin’s reputation and credibility in the eyes of US
lawmakers will be further diminished by the erosion of freedom of
expression in Thailand, the sources said. Last year, the Congress
authorised a special budget of US$1 million (Bt39.7 million) to promote
press freedom and democracy in Thailand. It was the world’s first free
country to receive such assistance from the US.

On April 26, the New York-based media advocacy organisation Freedom House
will release its latest assessment of the state of Thai media. It is
expected to further downgrade the Kingdom’s overall media freedom rating,
which last year ranked 88th out of more than 190 countries surveyed. The
report will do little to improve the mood of Congress regarding relations
with Thailand.

In the next three months, three prominent Asean leaders will visit
Washington to further cement their countries’ ties with the US.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loon, Indonesia’s President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Phan Van Khai are scheduled
to visit Washington before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes
her first visit to Southeast Asia in July.

An administration source says relations between the US and Vietnam will be
further boosted this year with mutual agreements to promote religious
freedom in Vietnam, an issue Hanoi has previously been reluctant to
discuss. Washington also views Hanoi as an important player in Asean.
President George W Bush will also visit Hanoi later in the year.

Analysts in Washington have commented that Thaksin has not made an
official visit to Washington since his visit in June 2003, which was
upgraded to working-visit status at the last minute. Official visits
indicate levels of importance and comfort attached to US-Asean
relationships.

Senior administration officials, including US Ambassador to Thailand Ralph
Boyce, have praised Thaksin’s quick and decisive response to assist
tsunami victims, allowing US humanitarian teams to set up operations at U
Tapao air base for relief efforts in the region.

But Thaksin’s record of human-rights violations, especially the
extra-judicial killing of drug suspects and his handling of the southern
violence, has raised eyebrows.

A senior administration source has confirmed that Rice will visit the Lao
capital, Vientiane, to attend the Asean Regional Forum and
post-ministerial meeting in July. But it remains to be seen if she will
make a stopover in Bangkok as part of her tour.

US lawmakers from both parties are also concerned over the Thai policy of
pushing back Burmese refugees. Hundreds out of the 3,000 Burmese exiles
waiting for asylum in third countries have been forcibly transferred to
refugee camps in Ratchaburi, Kanchanaburi and Tak since the end of March.
Many who have failed to cooperate have been treated as illegal immigrants
and deported.

US lawmakers say Thaksin’s strong backing of the Rangoon regime
strengthens the military dictatorship and Congress is expected to increase
pressure on Thailand to change its course.

_____________________________________

April 19, Mizzima News
New Zealand trade unions urge govt. for sanction on Burma - Mungpi

Trade Unions of New Zealand have urged the government and the people to
support the international sanction on Burma's military dictatorship for
alleged atrocities on the country's people.

The call was given after a meeting between the visiting delegation of
Burmese democracy campaigners and the Council of Trade Unions in
Wellington yesterday.

President Ross Wilson of Council of Trade Unions called upon the New
Zealand government to stop dealing with the Burmese junta and join an
international campaign against the regime.

"Burma is the forgotten country and the atrocities committed there daily
by the military dictatorship are often ignored internationally," said Ross
Wilson in a press statement.

The Burmese advocacy team, which includes two MPs, elected in the 1990
election, will directly appeal to the New Zealand government to stop
exports to Burma and support the international sanction on the Burmese
Junta. The team is led by U Hla Oo, President of the National Council of
the Union of Burma (NCUB) and an elected Member of Parliament.

New Zealand started export to Burma in June 2004. Milk powder, worth 4.5
million dollars, constitutes the major share of the total export, valued
at 5.9 Million dollars.

The visiting Burmese team also urged New Zealand to support the swelling
international pressure against Burma taking the chair of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) next year, unless changes take place in
the country in favour of democracy.

Burma, which was granted Asean membership in 1997, is set to take over
from Malaysia as the Chairman country next year on the basis of an
alphabetical rotation.

Earlier this month, the exiled Burmese democracy campaigners, while
visiting the Philippines capital of Manila for a conference of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), sought a blockade on Burma's prospective
chairmanship.

The United States and the European Union, both imposing sanctions on the
Burmese military junta, have threatened to boycott the Asean meetings to
be hosted by Burma, for its appalling human rights records and lack of
democracy.

Burma, with a population of 50 million people, is being ruled by the
Military since 1962. In 1990, the junta held an election but nullified the
results when the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel peace
Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, had a landslide victory.

Burma's democracy icon, Suu Kyi, has been under her third house arrest
since 1990. She has spent most of her days in Burma under detention or
house arrest.

_____________________________________

April 19, Thai Press Reports
US Senator criticizes India and China over Myanmar issue

A leading US senator lashed out at China and India yesterday over their
policy towards the Rangoon government following the release of the United
Nations Human Rights Commission resolution on Burma, The Nation reports.

Senator Mitch McConnell, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign
Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, said he was "dismayed that both
China and India reportedly objected to an 'unbalanced approach' in the
commission's action against Burma".

"In my view, India can - and should - play a catalytic role in fostering
change in Burma," McConnell said, adding, "I would remind India that such
objections serve only to tarnish its image as the world's largest
democracy, and send the wrong message to Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace
Laureate and recipient of India's Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International
Understanding." "India should, as it did in the past, stand firmly with
Burma's democrats and work to foster reconciliation between the National
League for Democracy, ethnic nationalities and the illegal military
junta," he said.

McConnell said that while the Human Rights Commission resolution was
welcomed, "the UN Security Council must discuss and debate the immediate
regional threats that country poses to its neighbours - whether from
illicit narcotics, HIV/Aids, trafficked and internally displaced persons,
or refugees".

The senator made his statement - reported on the congressional website -
during a three-day visit to Washington by India's External Affairs
Minister, Natwar Singh.

The UN Human Rights Commission resolution on Burma, attacking what it
called "the systematic ongoing violation of human rights" by the Rangoon
junta, was released last week.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 16, Straits Times
Myanmar question: Asean dilemma - Terence Chong and Ooi Kee Beng

The admittance of Myanmar into Asean in 1997 promised a rocky ride that
has now materialised.

Asean then argued that the inclusion of Myanmar would allow its members
more opportunities to nudge the military government towards reform.
However, increased criticism of the Myanmar government by Asean states
over the past year shows a waning of trust in that strategy.

Now with the reality of the Asean chair being situated in Yangon in the
middle of next year looming larger, the range of voices attempting to
convinc e the junta to forfeit its prize has grown, including those of
Malaysian parliamentarians led by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim demanding that
Myanmar be stripped of its Asean chair unless democratic reforms are
carried out.The reasons for the increasing pressure on Myanmar are quite
clear. First, the junta has failed to release Nobel laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi from house arrest.

Second, reforms are still wanting. The regime has obviously not felt any
nudges that it has not been able to ignore. With Myanmar's military junta
holding the Asean chair next year, some Asean members feel that the
regional body is being made to suffer for its generosity and for its trust
in the power of neighbourly goodwill. The demand is that Myanmar should
now give something back.Third, given the strong public feeling in Europe
and the United States in support of Ms Suu Kyi, Brussels and Washington
can in no way be convinced to participate in any meeting with Asean to be
held in Yangon.

A more central issue involves the viability and sincerity of Asean's
strategy of 'constructive engagement'. Myanmar refugees and asylum-seekers
totalled 210,000 in 1997. Today, eight years after Myanmar joined Asean,
they officially total half a million scattered throughout the region. The
real figure is probably a hundred thousand higher.

The increased drug traffic and further suppression within the country are
further signs that Asean affiliation in itself has not helped matters. Are
things coming to a head? The million-dollar question here is how
profoundly Asean and the Asean way will be affected. There are two sides
to view the situation from.

On the one hand, not much has changed. The argument that Asean would
suffer international criticism if Myanmar chairs next year's summit is
weakened by the fact that Asean accepted Myanmar in the face of
international criticism. There is little reason to believe that these
criticisms - ranging from the lack of human rights and freedom of speech
to low levels of democracy - would disappear were Myanmar to agree to skip
its turn.

There is also little chance that Myanmar, let alone Asean, should fear
economic isolation should the junta stand firm, especially given the fact
that it has supporters among Asean governments. Furthermore, Myanmar has
strategic links with China and India, while Singapore continues to be its
largest investor.It is also a breach of capitalist logic to believe that
American or European companies would pull out of South-east Asian
countries just because Myanmar has the Asean chair. Cheaper labour, raw
materials and government incentives will continue to be of primary concern
for such companies, and not politics.

If Myanmar was authoritarian when it was a non-Asean member, on what
concrete grounds was it assumed that the usurper junta would volunteer
democratic reform and surrender centralised power on becoming an Asean
member? One would have thought that once regional acceptance and
legitimacy had been handed to it, it would even feel less need to reform.

What concrete grounds made Asean rely on 'constructive engagement'? Was it
wishful thinking or were there decisive measures being planned? Instead of
merely blaming the junta, we should perhaps question the sincerity of
Asean members in proclaiming 'constructive engagement' as a cure-all
strategy.

As a buzz term that hinted at a subtle Asean way, 'constructive
engagement' has, in practice, meant backroom dialogue between national
representatives away from the media. There are certainly merits to such a
process. But while civil and discreet-sounding, constructive engagement
has never guaranteed applied action, largely because formal mechanisms and
structural obligations to ensure that member countries negotiate towards a
desired outcome are lacking. On the other hand, Asean and the East Asian
region at large are changing at a breathtaking pace, and this may explain
the increasing turnabout within Asean against Myanmar's feet dragging. Too
much is at stake for further courtesy to be paid to an ungrateful
backpedalling partner.

Malaysia, one of the main supporters of Myanmar's entry into Asean in
1997, will take over the chair later this year. While the position does
not bring any official power, it does carry some influence and may provide
possibilities to defuse the situation. Initiative for change with regard
to Myanmar should perhaps continue to come from the Malaysians.

What Asean must do in the coming months is nothing less than the
redemption of the idea of 'constructive engagement'. If concrete
mechanisms and measures - economic or political - can be quickly
constructed to facilitate wide-based Asean engagement in remedying
conditions in individual member states which have strong bearing on Asean
as a whole, then the chairmanship baton may yet be passed on next year
without too much hesitancy.

The writers are fellows at the Institute of South-east Asian Studies. This
is a personal comment.