----------------------------------BurmaNet---------------------------- 
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" 
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The BurmaNet News: November 22, 1996
Issue #575

Noted in Passing:


HEADLINES:
==========
THE NATION: ASEAN AGREES NOT TO RUSH BURMA'S ADMISSION
THE NATION: A TALE OF TWO WOMEN FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY
THE HINDU: DEMOCRACY STRUGGLE IN MYANMAR
UPI: MOTORCADE ATTACK TRIGGERS RAGE IN RANGOON 
BKK POST: JUNTA, KNU MEET FOR TRUCE TALKS
BKK POST: FOUNDER OF SHAN STATE ARMY DIES
THE NATION: MAJOR US WINE EXPORTER SUSPENDS BUSINESS 
KYODO NEWS: JAPAN AIRLINE TO OPERATE HOTELS IN RANGOON
NLM: JAPANESE COMPANY CONTRACTS TO BUILD NEW HOTEL 
NLM: KHIN NYUNT WARNS `NEOCOLONIALISTS'
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE NATION: ASEAN AGREES NOT TO RUSH BURMA'S ADMISSION
November 21,1996

Achara Pongvutithum, Wichit Chaitrong, Kulachada Chaipipat

The foreign ministers of the seven members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (Asean) yesterday agreed to base their decision on Burma's
membership to the group on a report by their senior economic officials as
well as that of the Asean Secretariate, and not follow a fast-track
admissions approach.

The timing of Burma's ASEAN membership is still up in the air, ASEAN
delegates said. The ASEAN foreign ministers will leave the matter informally
later this month in Jakarta to discuss it. Burma was admitted as an ASEAN
observer last year. It has indicated that it wants membership as soon as
possible.

The ministers yesterday mentioned the Burma membership issue in passing
during their informal side meeting prior to the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (Apec) meeting today and tomorrow. Their meeting here is also to
prepare for the leaders' summit in Jakarta on Nov. 30.

According to Deputy Foreign Minister Thep Devakula, ASEAN reaffirmed its
members' commitment toward the certain of one Southeast Asia comprised of a
10-member ASEAN which will include Laos, Cambodia and Burma. But Thep said
it is still unclear when Burma will be admitted.

According to Thep, ASEAN will stick to the practice followed with Vietnam,
Laos and Cambodia in its consideration of Burma.

Consultations between ASEAN senior economic officials and the ASEAN
Secretariat with Burma on physical arrangements and economic adjustments
will determine when Burma is admitted.

"I have a feeling that the ministers remain committed to the concept of one
Southeast Asia," said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rodolfo Severino.

A preliminary report by the ASEAN Secretariat suggested that Burma could be
ready economically to join ASEAN next year.

"The report is preliminary but it is very useful for us. We also have to
wait for the senior officials' report," Severino said.

According to Severino, ASEAN foreign ministers have agreed on the
arrangement of their leaders' informal summit. There will be no fixed
agenda, but they will discuss broad ASEAN-related topics including regional
affairs and the international situation.

Severino did not discount the possibility that ASEAN leaders will raise the
Burma membership issue during their informal meeting this month. "They may
not want to discuss it in the formal setting," he said.

Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas yesterday reiterated that ASEAN never
imposed political and economic conditions in admitting new members. But the
timing of admission does depends on economic "adjustments".

Indonesia informed the meeting of the physical arrangement of the exclusive
leaders' meeting. ASEAN leaders will have one-on-one meetings for
three-and-a-half hours in the morning, and the leaders of Laos, Cambodia and
Burma will be invited for afternoon consultations with ASEAN. (TN)

*****************************************************************

THE NATION: A TALE OF TWO WOMEN FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY
November 21,1996

The struggles of Aung San Suu Kyi and Megawati Sukarnoputri have their
similarities.

What is the question that opposition leaders Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma and
Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia, two of the most courageous women in
Southeast Asia, would like to ask each other?

In an interview in Rangoon last week, Suu Kyi told The Nation that she
wanted to know what Megawati's response was the fact that some students in
Jakarta brought Suu Kyi's poster to the street during protests to support
Megawati.

"I was actually very surprised when I found out the diversity and also a
sense of commonness between us. I saw the picture of young Indonesians
showing my poster. However, this puts me in a difficult position myself."

Suu Kyi also said that she has "warm feeling" toward Indonesia and that she
had met a lot of Indonesians, including the late President Sukarno,
Megawati's father, when he visited Rangoon in the 1950s.

In a separate interview in Jakarta, Megawati said she wanted to know what
Suu Kyi's house looked like now. "Is the big bamboo hall still there? Is the
street in front of her house still being blockaded?"

Famous people

The two are leading pro-democracy activists in the region and they are the
daughters of two famous people - Sukarno and Gen Aung San - who helped free
Indonesia and Burma respectively from their colonial masters after the World
War II.

But Suu Kyi and Megawati have emerged from the shadows of their fathers to
lead the opposition against two of the strongest military rulers in
Southeast Asia; Indonesia's Suharto and his New Order regime and Burma's
State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc).

Megawati, who was ousted from her position as chairwoman of the Indonesia
Democracy party by a government-backed candidate, is still widely regarded
as the legitimate leader of the opposition in Indonesia.

"Perhaps the similarity between us is that we are trying to contribute
something for the future of our nations," said Megawati, admitting that most
people recognize a woman like them because of their fathers and their
womanhood. 

She and Suu Kyi have also undertaken their own political struggle. Their
opponents, however, do not realize that these women have their own political
strength as well. And in a bid to downgrade their political influence, their
military opponents have pressured their media to refer to them as Mrs.
Megawati Taufikkiemas and Mrs. Michael Aris respectively to highlight their
husbands' surnames instead of their more famous maiden surnames.

Are they going to cooperate, or at least share ideas, on democratization in
Southeast Asia?

Suu Kyi, secretary-general of the National League for Democracy, refused to
condemn the Indonesian regime, saying that "no other government in the world
is worse than the Slorc."

She also said that the administration of President Suharto has achieved a
lot in terms of economic development in Indonesia, while Burma under Slorc
has stagnated. Suu Kyi believes that as long as Slorc does not recognize the
results of the 1990 general election, it is better for the international
communities, including Indonesia, to keep Slorc isolated.

Megawati cautiously said that Slorc had forced Burma to deviate from the
spirit of the Asia-Africa Declaration signed in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955
by world leaders from Asia and Africa.

"Democracy is partly the idea of independence. It is true now that Burma has
no democracy and that we should help the Burmese people fight for democracy."

"It doesn't mean that I want to interfere in Burma's internal affairs but
the common platform should be the Asia-Africa Declaration," she noted.

"If we compare Burma with South Africa, we realize that Burma has been left
behind, while South Africa under President Nelson Mandela has already solved
its most crucial problem and is preparing for gobalisation," she added.

Suu Kyi criticised the "constructive engagement" policy conducted by ASEAN.
She said the approach has not led to democracy in Burma, although its
supporters believe that her release was due more to ASEAN's cautious
approach rather than the threat of harsher sanctions from the West.

"It is quite difficult to say whose role is most significant, but to claim
that my release was because of ASEAN is not appropriate as well," she stressed.

Geographic location

Megawati believes Burma should become a member of ASEAN given its geographic
location. She hastened to add that ASEAN membership should not be "misused
to suppress human rights and the opposition" in Burma.

Slorc is believed eager to join ASEAN to get a measure of regional support,
while it faces international condemnation from Western countries. But ASEAN
members are divided on the timing of Burma's membership.

Indonesia and Malaysia agree on letting them join ASEAN next year, while the
Philippines, Thailand and Singapore have expressed some reservations and
suggest that membership be delayed.

How is family life?

Both Suu Kyi and Megawati, whose houses had been turned into party
headquarters, refused to answer questions about their children and husbands.

"That is personal. I don't want to answer that question," said Suu Kyi, a
mother of two teenage sons. "The children do not live with their mother
anymore now. An uncle takes care of them," said Megawati, a mother of three,
declining to give any more details. 
Andrea Harsono is The Nation's correspondent in Jakarta.

*****************************************************************

THE HINDU: DEMOCRACY STRUGGLE IN MYANMAR
November 21, 1996.
By V Suryanarayan
 
THE conflict between the military Generals of the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) and the democratic forces led by the Nobel
Laureate, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, is entering another phase of tension and
turmoil in Myanmar. The large-scale arrests of activists of the National
League for Democracy (NLD) in September 1996 and hiring of goons to disturb
her meetings are definite indicators that the Generals will go to any length
to cling to power. The struggle to restore democracy has a long and
chequered history. It started in 1962, when the military seized power. The
long spell of military rule 
under General Ne Win and the ridiculous slogan of 'Burmese Way to Socialism'
led to nationalization of virtually everything, so that a coterie could reap
the benefits. As a result, one of the richest countries in South East Asia
was ruined economically and politically. Still worse, Myanmar today has
become the 
world's largest producer of heroin.
 
General Ne Win's regime collapsed under the weight of popular discontent in
1988, only to be replaced by an ostensibly liberal regime: under the new
dispensation, the military, under General Ne Win, effectively controlled the
administration from behind the-scenes. Students, workers and the Buddhist
clergy, who demonstrated against the Government, were brutally mowed 
down. The elections in 1990, which the military hoped to win, turned out to
be a victory for the people. Even after securing 80 per cent of the votes
and 60 per cent of the seats, the NLD was not invited to form the
government. The SLORC maintained that the elected members had no mandate to
govern, that they 
were responsible only for drafting the Constitution and that until a new
Constitution came into force, the SLORC would continue to rule under martial
law.
 
In addition to the democratic upsurge in the Burmese heartland, the
indigenous minority groups, living in areas bordering Thailand, Laos, China
and Bangladesh, had been up in arms for several years against the manner in
which the ruling elite was attempting to destroy their ethnic identities and
"Burmanise" 
them. These struggles took parallel courses; however, after the brutal
incidents in 1988, the younger elements of the democratic movement fanned
into minority areas to forge a united front against the common enemy.
Forty-eight years after independence, Myanmar has not sorted out any of the
major problems - popular representation, ethnic discontent,
military-civilian relations and removal of poverty.
 
The military regime is being strengthened in a big way by China. As Bertil
Lintner has pointed out, the junta, which seized power on September 18,
1988, after crushing a nation-wide uprising for democracy, clearly saw in
China a potential ally, "especially when the leaders in Beijing staged a
very similar massacre of pro-democracy activists in June the following
year". The 
strength of the Myanmarese Army, currently 3,00,000, may go up to half a
million by the end of the century. China has provided fighter planes, patrol
boats, tanks and ammunition, in addition to communication equipment.
According to Lintner, China is also evincing interest in Myanmar's
infrastructure, including construction of roads from the Yunnan border to 
Yangon and upgradation of ports. Myanmar is one of the most important
markets for Chinese consumer goods and China imports timber, seafoods,
minerals and agricultural produce.
 
It is unfortunate. but true, that India has yet to evolve a comprehensive
policy towards Myanmar, with which we share land and maritime boundaries. As
early as 1944, Sardar K. M. Panikkar focused attention on the strategic
significance of that country to India. To quote Panikkar: "The defence of
Burma, in fact, is the defence of India and it is India's primary concern no
less than Burma's to see that its frontiers remain inviolate. In fact, no
responsibility be considered too heavy for India when it comes to the
question of defending Burma."
 
It is relevant to recall that India played pivotal role in bolstering
Myanmar politically militarily in the early years of independence. As is
well known, independent Myanmar was beset with many problems. The
assassination of Aung San was followed by revolts by Karens and communists.
The security of 
even Yangon was threatened by rebel forces. Indian concern was naturally
sharpened with the emergence of the People's Republic of China, which shared
common borders with both India and Myanmar. Thanks to Nehru's diplomacy, the
Commonwealth countries were persuaded to provide economic and military aid
to Myanmar. Indian assistance to Myanmar, which encompassed military and
economic help and bolstering of the U Nu regime, was aimed not only at
having a friendly buffer between India and China, but also at preventing the 
destabilisation of North East India, where Nagas and Mizos straddle the
India-Myanmar border.
 
After initial expressions of unhappiness over developments in Myanmar, New
Delhi has taken initiatives to mend fences with Yangon, and this step is
providing legitimacy to Myanmar's tyrannical regime. Those who support New
Delhi's policy argue that the junta cannot be isolated internationally.
Major General Dipankar Bannerjee, former Deputy Director of the Institute for 
Defence Studies and Analyses, has argued in a recent article that "India's
cause and national interests would be served better by a more pragmatic
approach," He points out that Myanmar's increasing relations with China
"have to he seen in perspective. The arms sale is more an instrument of
influence designed to 
enhance dependency than a strategic threat to Myanmar's neighbours."
 
Advocates of a "constructive engagement" in India and ASEAN 
(Association of South East Asian Association) maintain co-operation with the
SLORC will bring about the dismantling of the authoritarian structure and
gradual introduction of democracy. When Ms. Suu Kyi was freed in July 1995,
after six years of house arrest, they considered the release a signal for
positive change. They also hoped that if Myanmar joined the ASEAN, the SLORC
could be persuaded to introduce further reforms. All these hopes have turned
out to be a pipe-dream.
 
It will be a tragic day, if India, like China and some of the ASEAN
countries, adopts a foreign policy of cynicism and opportunism. It is
undoubtedly true that the pro-democracy movement suffered serious reverses
during recent months. But temporary setbacks were a feature of even the
Indian national movement. The logic of history and the justness of the
peoples demands will bring about a turn of the tide in Myanmar. The movement
will once again gather momentum. Ms. Suu Kyi, to quote Vaclav Havel, "is an
outstanding example of the power of 
the powerless." She is Myanmar's woman of destiny and is the hope and
inspiration of her people.
 
In Myanmar's political equation, as Joseph Silverstein has pointed out,
"while the SLORC has the guns and is willing to use them, Aung San Suu Kyi
has the people. If Burma is ever to achieve internal peace, national
reconciliation and popular support the SLORC needs her co-operation." 
 
Given our nationalist heritage, more so the Gandhi-Nehru legacy, New Delhi
owes it to itself and the struggling people of  Myanmar that it should
immediately initiate steps to mobilise international opinion so that
pressure will be brought on the junta to restore democracy and human rights.
 
As Ms. Suu Kyi pointed out in the Joyce Memorial Lecture, "The dream of a
society ruled by loving kindness, reason and justice is it dream as old as
civilised man. Does it have to be an impossible dream? Karl Popper,
explaining his abiding optimism in so troubled a world as ours, said the
darkness had always 
been there, but the light was new. Because it is new, it has to be tended
with care and diligence."
 
(The Author is Director, Centre for South and South East Asian 
Studies, University of Madras).

*****************************************************************

UPI: MOTORCADE ATTACK TRIGGERS RAGE IN RANGOON 
November  20, 1996  (abridged)
by John Hail

RANGOON (UPI) _ Kyi Maung waved his arms and shouted angrily at the
Military Intelligence agents lurking outside his home.

The agents were dressed in longyis, or sarongs, which most Burmese men
wear instead of pants, but there was no doubt they were members of M.I.,
Burma's ubiquitous secret police.

They ignored Kyi Maung's brief tirade and continued snapping photos of
everyone entering and leaving the old man's front gate.

Kyi Maung, vice president of the National League for Democracy, was
flushed with rage as he walked slowly back to his house.

``I told them to get out of here,'' he said. ``I asked them, 'Where were
you when we needed you?'''

The day before, on Nov. 9, police and government agents stood and
watched while Kyi Maung and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi,
along with other NLD leaders, were attacked by a mob as they left Kyi
Maung's house in a four-car motorcade.

The NLD leaders are all veteran Burmese politicians in their 70s. Suu
Kyi is 51.

Tin Oo, another NLD vice president, was cut slightly on the face by
flying glass when the windows of the car he and Kyi Maung were traveling
in were smashed.

Witnesses said the attackers, armed with wooden clubs, iron pipes and
bicycle chains, had been led by men with walkie-talkies.

In Burma, which has been under martial law since 1962, only police and
soldiers are allowed to use walkie-talkies.

The attackers had also been armed with slingshots, known in Burma as
catapults, which can fire ball bearings with magnum effect.

The ball bearings left vicious dents in the NLD's cars. Aimed a few
inches higher, the missiles could have killed the NLD leadership.

``They tried to kill us, the bloody fools,'' Kyi Maung said. ``About 200
people tried to kill us and nobody was arrested. The police didn't lift
a finger.''

The police, he said, had been much more diligent recently when several
NLD volunteers had moved a police barricade a few inches. The volunteers
had been promptly arrested and slapped with three-year prison sentences.

Kyi Maung himself was confined to a storage room for several days last
month for allegedly helping to organize a student rally in Rangoon.

``This time the criminals didn't leave the scene,'' he said. ``Not until
they were hauled away by the dons who run the show. This is the worst
incident in eight years.''

Rangoon-based Western diplomats were quick to condemn the attack. They
said it marked a dangerous escalation in the political battle between
the NLD and the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council.

When the junta seized power in 1988, it used law and order as its
justification, saying it was necessary to prevent the country from being
torn apart by mob violence.

It used similar justification to annul the results of Burma's first
multi-party election 30 years, in May 1990, which the NLD won in a
landslide of 82 percent of the popular vote.

If the attack on the NLD motorcade was meant to intimidate Aung San Suu
Kyi, or demonstrate popular opposition to the NLD, it appears to have
failed.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement saying it was ``outraged by
this attack, which took place under circumstances which are, to say the
least, extremely disturbing.''

The timing of the attack puzzled Burma watchers. Officials of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations had just concluded a meeting in
Rangoon aimed at speeding Burma's entry into the organization. U.S.
Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, was due to arrive the next
day.

``I had the impression that after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi (from
six years of house arrest) that things were not so bad,'' said one
senior European diplomat. ``But there has been a deterioration.''

``All methods are used to convince the public that she's a trouble-
maker,'' he said. ``But she's quite determined, quite strong.''

``The whole thing obviously was orchestrated,'' Suu Kyi said in an
interview. ``It was quite blatant, you know.''

She said a man with a walkie-talkie was heard to complain that some
members of the mob were not taking an active enough part in the attack.

It had all the hallmarks of an operation by the military-organized Union
Solidarity Development Association, which Suu Kyi said the junta is
attempting to use in the same way the Nazis used the Hitler Youth to
intimidate the opposition.

On Nov. 11, three days after the attack, Suu Kyi, Kyi Maung and other
NLD leaders filed charges against their unnamed assailants at a northern
Rangoon police station under Articles 336 and 427 of Burma's criminal
code.

``The police have not come around to make inquiries,'' Kyi Maung said.

*****************************************************************

BKK POST: JUNTA, KNU MEET FOR TRUCE TALKS
November 21, 1996

Supamart Kasem, Mae Sot, Tak

The Karen National Union and Rangoon junta meet in Mon State today for talks
that could lead to a truce. Lt- Khun Mya and representatives of the State
Law and Order Restoration Council crossed the Moei River yesterday to Mae
Sot to pick up the 11-member Karen delegation.

Included in the delegation, led by Supreme Commander Lt-Gen Tamalabaw, are
first joint general-secretary Pado Mahn Shar La Phan and Chief-of-Staff Maj
Maung Maung.

The Karen will discuss a cease-fire proposal with five Slorc figures
including Col Kyaw Win, chief of intelligence at the southeastern force
command in Moulmein, who will lead the junta side.

As part of the contacts, Slorc will take the Karen delegation to Rangoon and
other cities, said a source. During the talks in Moulmein, the Karen will
propose an immediate cease-fire, the withdrawal of Slorc forces from areas
under their control and cutting of support to the Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army.

The talks follow an invitation by Slorc, which sent Lt Khun Mya, Prof Tun
Aung Gyi and Aye Saw Myint to meet KNU President Bo Mya in Mae Sot in September.

Officials and border traders in Mae Sot were optimistic the talks could have
a positive impact on long-standing border demarcation disputes.

Last year, Rangoon accused Thailand of illegal encroachment by altering the
borderline marked by the Moei River.

Burma suspended construction of a bridge across the Moei on June 7 last year
and demanded the removal of construction materials and suspension of filling
and building work as pre-conditions for talks.

The reclaimed area on the Thai side has since been removed but Slorc has yet
to agree to resume construction of the bridge. Relations turned sour after
Burma accused Thailand of letting Karen forces attack Rangoon troops from
Thai soil. The allegation was denied.

Sources said Slorc vice-chairman Gen Maung Aye, who had pushed Rangoon to
suspend construction of the bridge, held talks with Army Commander Gen
Chestha Thanajaro about demarcation problems in Burma this month.

There is a possibility Slorc will agree to resume construction by
mid-December. Currently, Burma is concentrating on building a bridge across
the Salween River in Pa-an to link with the Myawaddy-Rangoon highway. The
bridge is scheduled for completion next March. (BP)

*****************************************************************

BKK POST: FOUNDER OF SHAN STATE ARMY DIES
November 21, 1996
Subin Khuenkaew, Chiang Mai

Shan  State Army founder Noi Zoyanta died of a lung ailment here on
Thursday, according to Shan sources in Thailand. The 69-year-old former SSA
leader died in a Muang district hospital after having suffered from lung
diseases for a long time.

A large number of former SSA leaders and Shan people in the North attended
his funeral at Wat Pa Pao in Muang district. His cremation will take place
at the Santitham cemetery on Saturday.

Mr Noi founded the SSA in 1958 to fight for Shan State's independence from
Burma.

He played a major role in the recent merger of the SSA, Shan United
Revolutionary Army (SURA) and Shan State National Army (SSNA) into an
anti-Rangoon alliance called the Shan State National Organisation (SSNO). 

*****************************************************************

THE NATION: MAJOR US WINE EXPORTER SUSPENDS BUSINESS 
November 21, 1996 (abridged)
Yindee Lertcharoenchok

ONE of California's biggest wine exporters, Wente Vineyards, has suspended
its business operations in Burma following allegations that it had dealing
with a local Burmese businessman with alleged links to the heroin trade.

However, in a statement, Wente cited political and human rights abuses as
the key factors in the company's withdrawal.

Wente rejected accusations made by human rights groups and anti-Burma lobby
groups in the United States that it had links with Burma's heroin trade by
selling its products to Asia World Co, which is owned by Steven Law, son of
convicted drug trafficker Lo Hsing-han.

Law, or Htun Myint Naing, was denied a visa to the United States earlier
this year on suspicion of connections to, or involvement in, the drug trade.

His father, Lo, was a prominent figure in the drug trade until his arrest in
Thailand in 1973. He was extradited to Burma to face trial and received the
death penalty. The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment, but he
was freed in 1980 under a general amnesty.

Although Wente claimed that it ad suspended its relationships with Asia
World Co in April, Larry Dohrs, the spokesman of the Free Burmese Coalition
(FBC), told The Nation in an interview from Seattle that Wente executives
did not mention the decision during interviews with author and activist
Leslie Kean in June and September of this year.

Wente's withdrawal from Burma came only a week after the Nov 4 announcement
by the US-based FBC of its boycott of Wente products, which include several
brand name: Murrieta's Well, Ficklin Vineyards, Sergio Traverso, Ivan Tamas,
Concannon Vineyards, Sokol Blosser Oregon Winery and micro-brewer St Stan's
Beer.

While other companies have been the target of boycotts for their support of
the Burmese military government, Wente is the first company targeted due to
alleged links with the Burmese heroin trade.

Wente said that it has no information to support the FBC's allegations of
Law's involvement in drug trafficking.

It added that the vineyards' brief relationship with Asia World was based on
that company's reputation as a respected member of the business community
and its experience representing multi-nationals such as Tiger Breweries,
Shangri-la Hotels and the United Distillers Group.

"Wente's decision (to suspend operations).. was not based, therefore, on any
knowledge concerning any heroin links of this company but rather, on Wente's
more general concern about the political situation in Burma and allegations
of human rights abuses by its government," the company said.

The company added that it shared the concern of the United Nations,
international governments and human rights groups about alleged human rights
abuses by the Burmese regime - the State La wand Order Restoration Council
(Slorc) - and heroin exports from Burma to the US.

Apart from the US-based campaign against conducting business with Law, the
Chinese Kokang family, of which Law is a member, and Asia World were
recently exposed by an Australian television programme for their kinks with
several legitimate Singapore-based businesses.

*****************************************************************

KYODO NEWS: JAPAN AIRLINE TO OPERATE HOTELS IN RANGOON
November 18, 1996

   JAL Hotels Co., a subsidiary of Japan Airlines, said Monday it will 
start operating a hotel in the Myanmarese capital of Yangon in May 1997.
     The hotel, to be called Hotel Nikko Royal Lake, will be the first to 
be operated in Myanmar by a Japanese company, JAL Hotels said.

*****************************************************************

NLM: JAPANESE COMPANY CONTRACTS TO BUILD NEW HOTEL 
November 16, 1996 (abridged) (The New Light of Myanmar)

Yangon, 15 Nov -- Myanmar Hotels and Tourism Services of the Ministry of
Hotels and Tourism and Myanmar Innwa Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Nikken
Rentacom Co Ltd of Tokyo, Japan, which was registered and formed in Myanmar,
today signed a contract on the lease of Innwa Hotel site in Mandalay for 30
years and development of a new ultramodern hotel with cent-per-cent
investment of Nikken Rentacom Co Ltd. 

The new ultra-modern Innwa Hotel Project covers construction of 320-room
six-storey hotel that will be operated for 30 years starting from the
official opening day and then handed over the ownership to the State.
Altogether 150 rooms are to be opened 24 months after the ground breaking
ceremony in the first phase and the remaining 170 rooms in the second phase
18 months after completion of the tasks in the first phase. 

In his address, Minister Lt-Gen Kyaw Ba said: 

May I first introduce you to our brand new partner Mr Kiyotaka Koike, the
Director of Myanmar Inwa Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Nikken Rentacom Co Ltd from
Tokyo, Japan. He has shown his full trust in the future potential of the
country by investing 25 million US dollars for this development project.
Apart from that, Mr Kiyotaka Koike's group also agreed to pay the land use
premium of US 3 million dollars.  We are indeed very happy today to welcome
Mr Kiyotaka Koike and colleague, who come in, at a time when rampant
negative news on Myanmar by foreign press can influence them and adverse
their course. But it is clear in the case of Nikken Rentacom group that they
have good judgement about our country and clear objective which I am
confident that
they will find their due reward in a matter of time. I also believe that
their participation in the development of Inwa hotel in Mandalay will
contribute greatly to the economic development of the area and better
atmosphere for the people living around Mandalay.

****************************************************************

NLM: KHIN NYUNT WARNS `NEOCOLONIALISTS'
November 16, 1996 (The New Light of Myanmar) (abridged)

Yangon, 15 Nov -- The conclusion of the Special Refresher Course No 24 for
Basic Education Teachers opened at the Central Institute of Civil Service
[CICS] was marked with a ceremony in the CICS hall in Hlegu Township at 1240
today. 

Chairman of the Myanmar Education Committee Secretary-l of the State Law and
Order Restoration Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt delivered an address. [passage
omitted on attendees]  In his address, Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt
expressed his belief that those who have attended the Special Refresher
Courses for Basic Education Teachers will be able to lead and organize
students in upholding Our Three Main National Causes and uplifting dynamism
of patriotic spirit as the State has believed them to do so. He also
believed that the teachers, being leading guides in the education world,
will set an example in their attitude and behaviour for their students and
look after them and maintain a situation of peaceful pursuit of education
while teaching them arts and sciences compatible with the political,
economic and social systems adopted by the State. 

The Secretary-1 expressed satisfaction at the trainees' serious pursuit of
lectures with keen interest, their adherence to course discipline and their
enthusiasm. 
He said it is a time when the State Law and Order Restoration Council has
substantially laid down the political, economic and social objectives and is
implementing them for the Union of Myanmar to become a modern developed
nation which is able to keep abreast with other nations and on the other
hand, it is also a time when efforts are being made to counter acts, like
throwing sand
at the meat which they cannot have, by some neo-colonialist nations and
organizations under their influence who are disparaging every endeavour of
the State Law and Order Restoration Council with negative views in a bid to
cause
every hindrance. 

The Secretary-1 called on the teachers to keep in touch with their students
and spotlight to them steps of neo- colonialists and elements under the
imperialists to enable them to see clearly and guide them so that they might
not be used by those who have lost their national identity in their
programme of enslaving the nation. He emphasized the need for the students
to have strong moral base, free from thinking highly of counter-cultures and
material development of other countries and thinking lowly of one's own
nation, race and culture. 

 He exhorted the teachers to put topics taught at the course to practical
use and combine them with their inborn quality. The topics he cited were
upholding of Our Three Main National Causes, uplift of dynamism of patriotic
spirit, management and discipline regarding students, preservation of Myanma
culture and teacher-student relations based on Myanma culture. 

The Secretary-1 stressed the need for the students to have politeness, moral
characters and dynamism of patriotic Union spirit and urged the teachers to
prevent their pupils from becoming intellectuals who seek their own benefits and
intellectuals who will betray the nation and enslave one's own nation. 

Youths, he said, are persons who will be discharging duties such as
perpetuation of the Union, national solidarity, perpetuation of sovereignty,
national
development and emergence of a peaceful, modern nation. He also spoke of the
Union Solidarity and Development Association which has aims and functions
for nurturing youths to become good and able persons who love their own
nation and race and so the teachers are to guide their pupils, centring on
the association. He also laid stress on participation of the entire mass of
students in translating aims and functions of the association into action. 

He urged teachers to take part in their respective roles and lead their
pupils in their efforts for emergence of a new enduring State Constitution
that will guarantee the future State to be peaceful, stable and developed. 

In conclusion, he urged teachers to strive in their respective roles for
successful implementation of the State's political, economic and social
objectives, to
maintain the continuance of peaceful pursuit of education in collaboration
with parents and students for materialization of the State's educational
policies, to organize and lead student youths to ward off the internal and
external subversives in accord with the four People's Desires, to organize
and lead student youths in the Union Solidarity and Development
Association's movements for national interests and to constantly strive for
always enlivening of the aims of the Special Refresher Courses.

