-------------------------- BurmaNet -------------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


The BurmaNet News: July 11, 1996 
Issue #464

Noted in Passing:
                 All things change eventually, even the government of 
                Burma, said ASSK(see: TIME INTERNATIONAL: 
                STALKING THE STUNT PRINCESS)

HEADLINES:
=========
AP: BURMA LESS ATTRACTIVE FOR INVESTMENT : FEER Poll
THE NATION: US COMPANIES FIGHT BURMA SANCTIONS BILL
THE NATION: INDOCHINA, BURMA MAY JOIN CAR PLAN
PRESS RELEASE: HEINEKEN PULLS OUT OF MYANMAR
BKK POST: LEADER CALLS FOR TOURISM BOYCOTT
STRAITS TIMES: TALKS WITH U.S. ONLY IF SUU KYI LEAVES
THE NATION: BURMA REGIME HAS REJECTED DIALOGUE PLEA
AP: CIA  TRIED TO WIN OVER SUU KYI, SAYS  JUNTA
BKK POST: GROUPS PRESS ASEAN FOR BURMA TALKS
BKK POST: MAE SOT ECONOMY SLUMPS AS TRADE SLOWS
BKK POST: NEW BURMESE PORT TO BOOST THAI TRADE
REUTER: SLORC INTERROGATING KHUN SA FOR SOME MORE ...
REUTERS: SLORC-WE CAN CONTROL MINORITIES IN BURMA
TIME INTERNATIONAL: STALKING THE STUNT PRINCESS
VOA: NEW US RADIO NETWORK FOR ASIA
USIA: WEB PAGE-DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN BURMA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AP: BURMA LESS ATTRACTIVE FOR INVESTMENT : FEER Poll
July 10, 1996
From: "Dr. Khin Ni Ni Thein" <nin@ihe.nl>

HONG KONG - According to the latest Asian Executives 
Poll carried out jointly by the Far Eastern Economic Review and Asia 
Business News, 70% of business leaders throughout the region say the 
escalating war of attrition between Aung San Suu Kyi and the military 
government has made Burma less attractive for investment. But the majority 
of Indonesians (56%) and Malaysians (55%) disagree. 

   When asked if the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 
should reverse its policy of constructive engagement with Burma, the 
majority of those polled in most ASEAN countries said no reversal is 
required. The exceptions were South Koreans (78%) and Taiwanese (60%), 
who said the policy should be reversed.
   
The weekly fax poll surveys top corporate executives in 10 Asian countries.
The poll also revealed that 74% of Malaysians and 67% of Indonesians 
approve of 'national car' projects. When asked, however, if the U.S.'s 
General Motors is justified in freezing its investment in Indonesia in 
response to the country's national car program, the majority of respondents 
in Indonesia (56%) say the move is justified.

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

THE NATION: US COMPANIES FIGHT BURMA SANCTIONS BILL
July 10, 1996

WASHINGTON - American oil companies are fighting a controversial 
bill aimed at banning US investment in Burma that should be 
debated in the Senate from this week.

While two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress is needed to 
override a likely presidential veto, US officials concede a 
further crackdown on democracy activists in the Southeast Asian 
country could be enough to ensure passage of strict new measures.

And if the junta was to re-arrest opposition leader Aung San Suu 
Kyi, one State Department official said," We wouldn't wait for 
Congress to act."

The White House opposes sanctions legislation. It does not want 
Congress to dictate foreign policy and it believes sanctions will 
fail without support from allies in Asia and European.

Lobbyists for the administration and US oil companies, with the 
most to lose if restrictions on trade and investment start, are 
working hard to counter a grassroots movement in favour of sanctions.

Los Angeles-based Unocal, which is collaborating on a US$1 
billion (Bt25 billion) oil pipeline in Burma, is "doing 
everything possible to make sure our views are heard," said 
company spokesman David Garcia. Burma "isn't a front-burner issue 
(with most members of Congress), but that hasn't stopped us from 
working hard to present our case to as many legislators as possible."

Despite criticism that one of its pipeline partners is owned by 
the military junta, Unocal - echoing other Western firms 
operating in Burma - insists its presence has improved the lives 
of its 100 local employees.

Human rights groups counter that any such improvements are too 
localised to justify investments that ultimately served to 
bolster the junta.

"There's been no benefit apparent at all" from Western investment 
in Burma since 1988, said Sidney Jones, executive director of 
Human Rights Watch/Asia. "We're actually getting a steady stream 
of reports of a major deterioration in human rights across the 
board" for Burma's 42 million people.

Atlantic Richfield and Texco, with exploration deals in Burma but 
no long-term development plants yet, say they are making the same 
points with legislators.

Putting more boycott pressure on the military government, Suu Kyi 
called for foreign tourists to boycott her country, in an 
interview with Kyodo news agency released yesterday, saying that 
tourists who travel to Burma are supporting a repressive regime.

The Burmese government is in the  middle of a "Visit Myanmar 
Year" campaign in an effort to increase tourism revenues.

But Suu Kyi said "We are totally against the "Visit Myanmar' 
campaign. This is tantamount to supporting authoritarianism in Burma."

Suu Kyi also repeated calls for foreign countries not to give 
official aid to Burma and for companies not to invest in the 
country until progress toward democracy is made.

Meanwhile, Burma's state-run media accused Suu Kyi yesterday of 
exploiting the death in prison last month of Leo Nichols, her 
close friend and honorary consul for four European countries.

Commentaries in the state-owned press called her the "Western 
Queen Mother" and accused her of trying to "assemble a crowd" by 
organising a Buddhist ceremony for Nichols seven days after death 
on June 22.

Suu Kyi was accused of using Nichols' death as an excuse to draw 
international attention to Burma, inappropriately using Buddhist 
rites and trying to organise a Christian memorial service.

The authorities had given permission for the memorial service as 
long as it would be purely religious and was not politicised, the 
commentary said.

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

THE NATION: INDOCHINA, BURMA MAY JOIN CAR PLAN
July 10, 1996
by Watcharapong Thongrung

THE Asean Industrial Cooperation programme could be expanded to 
cover Laos, Cambodia and Burma as they develop automotive 
industries, according to government officials.

Japan and Asean will play key roles in helping Indochinese 
countries and Burma develop their industries, which will benefit 
from tariff cuts on the exchange of auto components.

Sivavong Changkasiri, permanent secretary for industry, said 
automobile experts from Japan and Asean agreed at the end of a 
two-day meeting yesterday to send 12 specialists to survey 
Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Vietnam.

To develop a market for automobiles, these countries will have to 
come up with traffic laws and rules and long-term plans for an 
auto and motorcycle industry.

The three countries and Vietnam will also be promoted to form 
joint ventures with Asean countries under the Aico programme and 
Asean's Common Effective Preferential Tariffs scheme, which 
requires Asean counties to restructure tariffs into six rates and 
lower duties on manufactured goods to between 0 per cent and 5 
per cent by 2003.

Aico will lead to immediate tariff cuts to 0-5 per cent if a 
final agreement is struck among member countries.

All four, except Burma, have agreed to assistance from Asean and 
Japan, but Burma has yet to receive official approval from its 
government.

Different assistance programmes will be designed to suit the 
requirements of each of the  countries, he said. Decisions will 
be based on the facts gathered by the specialist team.

Cherdpong Sirivit, deputy chief of the Industrial Economic 
Department, said Asean countries will also increase their 
competitiveness by expanding their operations into Laos, Cambodia 
and Burma.  A report will be sent to a working group meeting 
regarding these three countries on Aug 23 and a joint meeting 
between Asean economic ministers and Japan's Ministry of 
International Trade and Industry in October.

He said Japan has proposed a conference of industry 
representatives related to the automotive sector to promote trade 
and investment as liberalisation measures are under way. Medium 
and small industries will be focus of this effort. Asean 
countries also have to pay more attention to staff in terms of 
education and training.

On traffic problems created by the auto industry, the report 
suggested that governments should not restrict the number of 
vehicles but use vehicle and fuel taxes to solve the problems, 
such as building more roads and improving traffic management 
systems. (TN)

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

PRESS RELEASE: HEINEKEN PULLS OUT OF MYANMAR
July 10, 1996 (Burma Centrum Netherland News)
from: david arnott <darnott@igc.apc.org>

Heineken-Press release (translation from the Dutch original by
BCN, with a little touching up by David Arnott)

Heineken N.V has decided to end its business activities in
Myanmar (former Burma). The beer-brewer will stop its
involvement in Myanmar Brewery Ltd. This was made known by the
Members of the Board of Heineken N.V. this afternoon.
 
Heineken entered this market one and a half year ago for
commercial reasons. "Since that time public opinion on
investing in this market has changed in such a way, that
[continued involvement] could have negative effects on the
Heineken-brand and on the reputation of our company",
according to Mr. K Vuursteen, Chairman of the Board, today.
"Heineken traditionally attaches great value to its
responsibility towards society in innumerable markets 
around the world. On the basis of the changed circumstances,
we have reassessed the situation and have come to the
conclusion that we can no longer accomplish this goal [of
social responsibility]", said Mr Vuursteen.
 
The formal decision was made on the 30th of June, after it was
established that the general interests of Heineken could be
undermined if this project was continued. The partner in
Myanmar was informed on July 4, after which talks were held on
the consequences out of this decision.

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

BKK POST: LEADER CALLS FOR TOURISM BOYCOTT
July 10, 1996 (abridged)

BURMESE opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi called for foreign
tourists to boycott her country, in an interview with a Japanese
news agency released yesterday.

The head of the National League for Democracy, who was released
from house arrest one year ago, told Kyodo news agency that
tourists should not support the military junta in Burma.

The Burmese government is in the midst of a "Visit Myanmar
[Burma] Year" campaign in an effort to increase tourism revenues.

But Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said "We are totally against the "Visit
Myanmar" campaign.

She added: "This is tantamount to supporting authoritarianism in
Burma.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner also repeated calls for foreign
countries not to give official aid to Burma and for companies not
to invest in the country until progress toward democracy is made.

"The party is stronger and the public support is stronger," she
said in the interview.

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

STRAITS TIMES: TALKS WITH U.S. ONLY IF SUU KYI LEAVES
July 11, 1996 
From: John Scherb <mcs@primenet.com>

 YANGON -- Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi must cease her 
activities and leave Myanmar if the United States wants to discuss
matters of mutual interest with the Myanmar government, state-run
newspapers said yesterday. 

 Official newspapers carried a commentary saying: "If we are going to 
discuss matters of mutual benefit, it will be necessary to close the soap 
opera on University Avenue." 

 Ms Suu Kyi lives on University Avenue and "soap opera" was apparently a 
reference to activities at her home which include regular weekend talks to 
supporters who gather outside her house. 

 The commentary, published on the first anniversary of the 1991 Nobel 
Peace Prize winner's release from six years of house arrest, was entitled 
Time They Realised. It focused on relations between Myanmar and the US. 

 The commentary said: "The puppet princess and her director who 
manipulates from behind the curtain should be withdrawn from the 
Myanmar stage. Instead, they should be made to play a role on an 
appropriate higher stage, for instance like the United Nations." 

 Myanmar's tightly-controlled media has published regular attacks on Ms 
Suu Kyi, referring to her as a puppet princess and as a stooge of 
foreigners, in particular the US Central Intelligence Agency. 

Yangon residents said the commentary was clearly a reflection of 
government thinking. 

 Ms Suu Kyi has said she is willing to discuss anything except leaving the 
country.

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

THE NATION: BURMA REGIME HAS REJECTED DIALOGUE PLEA
July 10, 1996 (abrigded)

BURMESE pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has sent a letter 
to all countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
(Asean) outlining the developing political situation in Burma and 
her party's long-standing policy to seek a peaceful dialogue with 
the country's ruling junta.

The letter is the first official contact or communication by Suu 
Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) with the regional 
grouping, which has recognised the ruling State Law and Order 
Restoration Council (Slorc) since it rose to power in a bloody 
coup in September 1988.

Informed sources said Suu Kyi gave her account of the recent 
massive Slorc crackdown on the NLD in which over 260 of its 
supporters and elected MPs were arrested and detained ahead of a 
scheduled party congress on May 26.

Suu Kyi said that she does not believe in a confrontational 
approach and prefers a dialogue with Slorc to resolve the 
country's political turmoil. The military regime has rejected her 
initiatives all along, she was quoted as saying in the letter.

Suu Kyi also expressed her desire to see Asean play a role in 
encouraging the dialogue process.

The sources said it was not certain whether Asean foreign 
ministers would reply to Suu Kyi's letter or acknowledge its receipt.

Suu Kyi's message is seen as a response to the account given by 
Burmese Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw in his letter to his Asean 
counterparts last month.

In his letter, U Ohn Gyaw said the NLD members were not arrested, 
but only temporarily detained for "questioning" as a pre-emptive 
measure to prevent the political situation from deteriorating.

He said those detained were not jailed and were well treated in 
state guest houses. Sources quoted U Ohn Gyaw as describing the 
overall situation as under control and telling Asean members not 
to worry about it.

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

AP: CIA  TRIED TO WIN OVER SUU KYI, SAYS  JUNTA
July 10, 1996
From: fdhr!chan@unv.ernet.in

Bangkok, July 8: Burma's military  government said  on Monday  that the 
US Central  intelligence Agency and the local Communist party fought to 
control  pro-democracy leader Aung  San  Suu Kyi.

"In  the  htami{skirt} grabbing contest between  the Communist and the 
West bloc, the latter is the winner, said an article in the state-run New 
Light of  Myanmar.

The heavily censored  press is  considered  to represent the view  of the 
military government, which has increased  attacks on Suu Kyi since she 
stepped up her campaign against the regime in  May.

The article dealt with events during  the years 1988-89, when a democracy 
uprising erupted  throughout Burma and  Ms Suu Kyi emerged  from 
obscurity to  lead it.

Burma's Communist Party, which operated in remote hills near the Chinese
border, collapsed in 1989. It is not longer a factor in Burmese politics or a 
security threat. Neo-colonialists of the West bloc employ patent methods of 
sabotage of the CIA, the article said.

Burma was British colony from 1824 until 1947. The Burmese military 
overthrew a democratically  elected government in 1962  and  kept Burma 
isolated for decades. The current regime still backs its  claim to legitimacy 
with ultra-nationalist   propaganda.

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

BKK POST: GROUPS PRESS ASEAN FOR BURMA TALKS
July 10, 1996 (abridged)

NON-government groups in Thailand want Asean to press for talks 
between the junta and pro-democracy forces in Burma.

They also want the Association of Southeast Asian nations to 
press for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters.

Their call came in an open letter marking the first anniversary 
of the pro-democracy leader's release from house arrest.

If the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council failed to 
respond positively, Asean and its dialogue partners should 
reconsider inviting Slorc to Asean's next meeting in Jakarta, the 
group said.

"Asean should encourage Slorc to immediately enter genuine 
political dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of 
the political and ethnic opposition," the letter said, adding 
Asean should offer to help those talks.

The letter is likely, to be given to Deputy Foreign Minister 
Pracha Gunakasem and Bangkok-based diplomats of Asean and its 
dialogue partners.

Signatories include the Asian Forum for Human Rights and 
Development (Forum-Asia), Amnesty International (Thailand), the 
Asian Cultural Forum on Development, the Thai Action Committee 
for Democracy in Burma, and the Union for Civil Liberty.

They said Asean played a leading role in bringing about peace and 
democracy in Cambodia and should do the same in Burma.

According to the NGOs, 27 of the 262 National League for 
Democracy (NLD) delegates arrested in the run-up to the party's 
may 26-28 congress remain under arrest. The NGOs also expressed 
concern about a "repressive law" announced on June 7 which 
decreed stringent penalties for those obstructing Slorc's 
drafting of a constitution, a process the NLD has rejected.

The NGOs urged Asean make clear to Slorc that "significant 
improvements" in human rights in Burma were a prerequisite for 
that country joining the group. Rangoon has indicated it wants to 
become a full member of Asean by 1998.

They called on the group and its partners to refrain from 
investing in Burma, and to support a moratorium on any new aid or 
funding for Rangoon until human rights and the political 
situation there improved.

An arms embargo should be enforced against the government and all 
armed opposition groups in Burma, they said.

Asean groups, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, 
Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It's dialogue partners include 
the united States, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, 
Canada, Japan, South Korea and India.

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

BKK POST: MAE SOT ECONOMY SLUMPS AS TRADE SLOWS
July 10, 1996
by Supamart Kasem

MAE Sot is losing its lustre as a trading point with Burma 
following a sharp drop in cross-border trade and the sluggishness 
in the tourism industry.

Cross-border trade has steadily declined since Burma closed the 
checkpoint at Myawaddy opposite Mae Sot in March last year after 
differences with Thailand over construction of the Thai-Burmese 
friendship bridge, the digging of water channels, in the Moei 
River, and Rangoon's rejection of Thai proposal to open customs 
checkpoints to regulate two-way border trade.

Tak chamber of commerce deputy chairman Panithi Tangpati said 
exports to Burma through Mae Sot  checkpoint have tumbled from a 
high of 200 million baht to less than 40 million baht a month, 
while imports had fallen from 4-5 million baht a month to less 
than 1 million baht now.

A Mae Sot trader said the slump in border trade and tourism 
triggered a chain reaction which spread to other businesses such 
as restaurants, taxis and souvenir shops. Sales of consumer goods 
at groceries and supermarkets have also dropped significantly.

One salesman said his orders declined by almost 90 percent last week.

He said that usually he received orders worth about 2 million 
baht a month to supply consumer products such as instant noodle, 
snacks, canned food and canned juice, but last week he only 
received orders worth 200,000 baht.

The jewellery market at Prasart Vithi Road has not been spared either.

The jewellery and ornament sector is usually active between 9 a.m 
and 3 p.m but the last two days saw sales picking up at noon and 
at 2 p.m it was all over.

The situation in the jade and ruby market at the foot of the 
Thai-Burmese friendship bridge was no better. Only about 10 
coaches visited the market last weekend bringing in about 100 
tourists. Normally at least 400-500 tourists visit the market on weekends.

Banpot Korkiatcharoen, manager of Nguan Heng Partnership Ltd in 
Mae Sot, said political and economic instability in their country 
prompted Burmese traders to cut down their orders from Thailand.

Banpot, who also owns a trading  company in Burma, said the 
closure of the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border recently forced him to 
ship goods to Burma through Klong Toey Port in Bangkok via Singapore.

But the shipment cost, he said was two times higher than sending 
gods through Mae Sot and it took two months for the goods to 
arrive in Rangoon as Singapore authorities strictly inspected the shipments.

Banpot said border trade was so sluggish that many traders may be 
forced to stop business, adding that several exporters had 
already turned to retailing.

Panithi said the reopening of the checkpoint on March 19 has not 
helped revive cross-border trade because Burma allows its people 
to only buy consumer goods and the value of the kyat is now down 
to 16.7 satang, the lowest in 16 years.

Panithi said loan extension to Burmese authorities and Rangoon's 
attempts to intimidate National League for Democracy leader Aung 
San Suu Kyi have driven Burmese people to hoard goods and gold 
out of fear of unrest, leading to sharp rise in inflation.

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

BKK POST: NEW BURMESE PORT TO BOOST THAI TRADE
July 10, 1996

TRADE between Thailand and Burma is expected to boom once Burma's 
deep-sea port on the Andaman Sea opens for business.

To prevent problems, Thai investors must begin studying Burmese 
trade regulations now according to Commerce Minister Chucheep 
Harnsawat.

Speaking after a meeting with officials from Burma's Transport 
Ministry and National Plan and Economic Development Ministry, 
Chucheep said the Burmese were keen for Thai companies to invest 
in the country's industrial sector.

He added that increased ties with Burma, with its wealth of 
natural resources and good purchasing power, would benefit both sides.

Deep-sea projects in both countries could further pave the way 
for joint projects and open trade to the Andaman region, he said, 
noting that Thailand was also looking to build a manufacturing 
base in Tavoy, Burma, and an 80-kilometre road linking 
Kachanaburi to Tavoy.

When asked about reports of conflicts over border trade, Chucheep 
said the two governments had no disagreements at present. 
However, he stressed that the Thai private sector must understand 
and study Burmese investment laws which change rapidly.

The president of the Kanchanaburi Chamber of Commerce, Singh 
Tangcharoenchaichana, said he had recently provided information 
about the combined deep-sea port resources of Thailand and Burma 
to Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa and other ministers 
concerned with trade and investment relations between Thailand 
and Burma.

He said the two sides should consider combining the potentials of 
their deep-sea ports, explaining that if merchant ships no longer 
had to travel around the Malayan Peninsula, trade between 
Thailand and Burma could expand more quickly.

Singh said Burma was interested in combining the resources and 
the potential of deep-sea ports operated by both sides, adding 
that the Burmese government had already approved the details for 
such a project.

The Federation of Thai Industries and the Commerce Ministry are 
now studying a similar proposal.

He said deep-sea port projects would lead to the expansion of 
industrial plants, the creation of free trade zones and even 
border industrial estates

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

REUTER: SLORC INTERROGATING KHUN SA FOR SOME MORE ...
July 10, 1996
From: ktint@earthlink.net (Kyaw Tint)

RANGOON, - Burma's former opium warlord Khun Sa, who surrendered 
at the beginning of the year, is being interrogated about his past activities,

including his foreign connections, a government offical said on Wednesday.
    
Lieutenant-General Kyaw Ba, a member of the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC), told Reuters in an interview it might take up
to a year before the government decided what to do with the man authorities
once promised to hunt down and execute.

     "It all depends on him. What he's going to say, what he's going to
confess," Kyaw Ba said.

"We are now investigating him and asking him what we want to know
about his different connections in different countries," he said, without
elaborating.

Khun Sa, who international narcotics officials say was responsible for
approximately half of Burma's annual opium crop of more than 2,000 
tonnes, surrendered to governemnt forces in January with thousands 
of his guerrillas.

     The government rejected a request from the United States to extradite
him to face heroin trafficking charges in a U.S. court, saying he would be
dealt with according to Burmese law.

     Kyaw Ba said whether Khun Sa was charged and prosecuted depended 
on what information he was willing to divulge, but he hinted the veteran
guerrilla commander might be pardoned.

     He also said there was a Burmese tradition "to forgive and forget when
you come back into the legal fold."

     Before Khun Sa's surprise surrender, the Rangoon government vowed to
crush his guerrilla army and said he would be caught and hung.

     Kyaw Ba declined to say where Khun Sa was being detained. Former
associates now based on the Thai-Burmese border said Khun Sa was living in
a military guest house in an exclusive Rangoon neighbourhood.

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

REUTERS: SLORC-WE CAN CONTROL MINORITIES IN BURMA
July 10, 1996
From: ktint@earthlink.net

    RANGOON, A senior official of Burma's military government said on 
Wednesday it was illegal for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to write 
a constitution to rival a pro-military charter being drafted.
     "That is not acceptable and is illegal," Lieutenant-General Kyaw Ba, a
member of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), 
said in an interview.
     "The constitution must be drafted by all kinds of people, all ethnic
groups and different levels of people," Kyaw Ba said when asked about Suu
Kyi's plans to draft a democratic constitution.
   
  A SLORC-organised national convention has been meeting since 
January 1993 to draw up a charter that will guarantee the military a 
"leading role" in politics.
     
Suu Kyi pulled her National League for Democracy party out of the
SLORC convention last November, and in May said she and other party 
leaders were drawing up a rival charter.
     
If Suu Kyi took power Burma could become like the former Yugoslavia,
with the country's many disparate minorities pushing for independence, 
Kyaw Ba said. "Only we can control them (the minorities) and not let the 
country disintegrate like... Yugoslavia."

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

TIME INTERNATIONAL: STALKING THE STUNT PRINCESS
July 10, 1996
From: John Scherb <mcs@primenet.com>

1 YEAR  AFTER ASSK IS RELEASED, THE FATE OF DEMOCRACY 
REMAINS IN DOUBT
by Anthony Spaeth 

The main event in Rangoon's public life occurs each Saturday and Sunday 
at  4 p.m., when Aung San Suu Kyi climbs a platform behind the closed 
gate of  her lakeside residence and addresses a crowd of several thousand 
supporters. The 51-year-old winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, 
invariably wearing a sprig of blossoms in her hair, speaks about 
democracy and fundamental rights--rarities in military-run Burma, 
even as conversational topics--and traffic on the road outside her house 
clogs up as the city's less courageous steal glimpses of Suu Kyi from the 
safety of their cars. A few muster the courage to wave. At the end of an 
hour-long address, Suu Kyi instructs her loyalists to go home, but she 
remains on the platform, watching to ensure that the crowd gets away 
without arrest or harassment. 

It's a touching gesture from a woman whose own safety is perpetually at 
risk. Next week will mark one year since the ruling State Law and Order 
Restoration Council released Suu Kyi from six years of house arrest. 
SLORC has allowed her little genuine freedom--she has left Rangoon only 
once--and the political situation has slid closer and closer toward 
dangerous gridlock. In May the generals arrested 273 officials of Suu Kyi's 
National League for Democracy to prevent them from attending a party 
congress; later many were released. In early June, Suu Kyi's cousin U Aye 
Win and another close aide were detained and have reportedly been given 
harsh prison sentences on unspecified charges. A personal attendant, San 
Hlaing, who vanished on June 13 on the way to a local video shop, has been 
sighted in Rangoon's Insein prison. Nine days after that disappearance, Suu 
Kyi's godfather, Leo Nichols, died in a Rangoon hospital; he had served just 
2 1/2 months of a three-year jail term at Insein for having an illegal fax 
machine. Nichols, former honorary consul for Norway, Sweden, Denmark, 
Finland and Switzerland, used his fax to send Suu Kyi's regular column, 
"Letter from Burma," to Japan's Mainichi Shimbun. Authorities refused to 
release his body for an independent autopsy and buried the man Suu Kyi 
knew as Uncle Leo within 27 hours of his death, following a government 
arranged funeral that the Nichols family was advised not to attend. 

The standoff in Rangoon is tense and stark. On one side is SLORC, united in 
its desire to keep Burma orderly and under its rule while simultaneously 
seeking aid money and foreign investments--a combination of goals 
strikingly similar to China's. "There's good reason to believe the Chinese 
are involved in advising SLORC on how to handle the political situation," 
says an Asian diplomat based in Rangoon. "China is a country and system 
they understand well." On the other side is Suu Kyi, determined to bring 
freedoms to Burma based on the popular mandate given her party in 1990 
elections; the poll results were voided by SLORC after a resounding N.L.D. 
victory. Though Suu Kyi enjoys wide sympathy abroad, diplomatic 
pressure and protests on U.S. college campuses for a boycott of Burma have 
minuscule impact within the country. "International opinion is only a 
small part of SLORC's concern," says a Western diplomat. "Domestic 
control is more important." 

SLORC's attempts to marginalize Suu Kyi inside Burma are succeeding in 
some ways, thanks largely to her nonconfrontational approach to the junta. 
The government has confined Suu Kyi to her family compound in Rangoon, 
first through the six-year house arrest and then, in the past year, by 
forcibly discouraging her attempts to tour the countryside. Her only real 
contact with the masses is from behind the residence's gate on Saturday and 
Sunday afternoons. Average turnout: 3,000 per speech. "I come," says a 
retired government official who turns out nearly every Saturday and 
Sunday, "because I think what she says is the truth, and nobody else is 
saying it." 

STOOGES, HOLDING NEGATIVE VIEWS...

The official media recently began printing stories about the "traffic 
nuisance" caused by the meetings, which some supporters see as a prelude 
to a crackdown. Newspapers describe Suu Kyi as a "political-stunt 
princess" or "Western fashion girl." She is frequently accused of being an 
agent of the West--or, in more savage jargon, "ax handle of the neo 
colonialists"--and her marriage to British professor Michael Aris is cited 
as proof. Towering red billboards have been erected throughout the country 
reading: OPPOSE THOSE RELYING ON EXTERNAL ELEMENTS, 
ACTING AS (text not in original)

Many diplomats think SLORC is trying to keep Suu Kyi in virtual 
seclusion  until it can ram through a new constitution, already 3 1/2
years in the making, which is expected to reserve one-quarter of the 
seats in parliament for the military, thus effectively preventing any 
further constitutional change. Then elections would follow, in which a 
SLORC-dominated political party might even manage some genuine 
popular support. For though SLORC has been brutal with Suu Kyi and 
the N.L.D., the junta has more achievements than the regime of Ne Win,
which ran Burma from 1962 to 1988. In the past few years, the government 
has signed peace accords with 15 out of 16 tribal groups, most on the 
country's borders, that have been fighting the Burmese military for 
decades. Burma has received $2 billion in foreign-investment pledges. 

Suu Kyi has allowed herself one area of confrontation: the new Burmese 
constitution. Despite the N.L.D.'s strong showing in the 1990 elections, it 
was given only 86 seats in the 677-member National Convention, which is 
drafting the document. In November she ordered her delegates to walk out 
in protest against the way the convention was functioning, and also because 
elected representatives continued to be underrepresented. SLORC reacted 
by getting the N.L.D. delegates expelled. Then in May she announced that the 
N.L.D. would draw up its own proposed draft of a constitution. SLORC came 
down hard: last month it proclaimed a new law prohibiting such activities. 
Penalties range from five to 20 years in prison. After the law was issued, 
Suu Kyi and her followers toned down their public criticisms of the 
convention, but she is determined to go ahead with her own version of the 
law of the land. 

"She's a great ideologue and very disciplined, which attracts people," says 
an Asian diplomat. "If she'd been a shrewd politician, she would have known 
how to deal with the military regime. The only solution could be to make 
some constitutional provision for the military to share power. But now the 
N.L.D. is ranged in total opposition to SLORC." That analysis may not be 
entirely fair: Suu Kyi says accommodation with SLORC was never possible 
-not because she is inflexible or ideological but because the junta refused 
to begin a dialogue. Now confrontation seems inevitable, and a rearrest of 
Suu Kyi is not out of the question. "SLORC keeps misreading the situation 
fundamentally," says a Western diplomat. "It miscalculated by holding the 
elections, and it miscalculated by releasing her. Now it may be 
miscalculating again." At one of the recent weekend gatherings of her 
supporters, Suu Kyi could offer only pale words of hope. She talked about 
"the law of impermanence." All things change eventually, she said--even 
the government of Burma.

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

VOA: NEW US RADIO NETWORK FOR ASIA
July 10, 1996
From: John Scherb <mcs@primenet.com>

New US Radio Network for Asia -- the Asia-Pacific Network, US 
government's new radio network beaming to Asia, will begin 
broadcasting soon.  Richard Richter, director of APN, told a 
house subcommittee hearing on international operations and human 
rights that Mandarin, Cantonese and Tibetan programs will start 
in the fall, followed by broadcasts to Burma, Cambodia, Laos, 
North Korea and Vietnam next year.  

*******************************************************:

USIA: WEB PAGE-DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN BURMA
July 10, 1996
From: <strider@igc.apc.org>

The United States Information Agency has posted a new Internet home 
page on democracy and human rights issues in Burma, on USIA's 
International Home Page's East Asia Section.  It contains transcripts of 
State Dept. and White House press releases, congressional testimony, 
the latest State Dept. Human Rights Report, etc. 