From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: BURMA: CALLS FOR ASIAN BOYCOTT AGAINST RANGOON
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 09:23:24 GMT

/** reg.seasia: 379.0 **/
** Topic: ips: Call for Burma boycott **
** Written  5:51 pm  Apr  5, 1992 by cscheiner in cdp:reg.seasia **
From: Charles Scheiner <cscheiner>
Subject: ips: Call for Burma boycott

/* Written 11:04 am  Apr  5, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "BURMA: CALLS FOR ASIAN BOYCOTT AGAI" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Europe, western
Reference: Trade & Finance
Title: BURMA: CALLS FOR ASIAN BOYCOTT AGAINST RANGOON GROW LOUDER

hong king, apr 2 (ips/yojana sharma) -- the call for a trade and
investment boycott against burma is growing louder in several asian
countries as investment capital from the the region continues to
grow.

the association of south-east asian nations (asean), comprising
thailand malaysia, indonesia, the philippines, singapore and brunei,
are already re-examining their policy of ''constructive engagement''
on burma as human rights abuses in that country increase.

but in hong kong, taiwan and south korea, the call for an
economic boycott is only just beginning to be heard.

western foreign aid to burma worth around 500 million dollars a
year was suspended shortly after the 1988 violent crackdown on pro-
democracy demonstrations. but investment from asia, particularly in
logging, mining and oil exploration, has more than made up for the
loss, according to analysts here.

investment from asia and the west has pushed up burma's foreign
reserves from a paltry 12 million dollars in 1988 to over 900
million dollars in 1991. human rights activists say most of this
money is put to military use.

church and human rights groups in hong kong have stepped up calls
for a trade and investment boycott to stop asian countries propping
up the rangoon regime, considered to be one of the most repressive
in the world.

burton levin, a former u.s. ambassador to burma and now head of
the asia society in hong kong, believes the only way to put pressure
on the rangoon government is to make sure it does not use foreign
capital to oppress its own people.

''foreign investment in most countries acts as a catalyst to
promote change but the regime is so single-minded that whatever
money they obtain from foreign sources they pour straight into the
army while the rest of the country is collapsing,'' levin says.

the international community has called on the rangoon regime to
honour the results of the 1990 elections and release opposition
leader aung san su kyii, whose national league for democracy (nld)
won a landslide victory in the polls.

sanctions will mean foreign investors will have to stop shoring
up the regime ''and it will strengthen the realisation even within
the army that the leadership is a pariah and has to go,'' says levin
who retired as ambassador in october 1990 after serving three-and-a-
half years in rangoon.

thailand with its logging and fishing concessions has by far the
biggest asian investment in burma. but other east asian countries
such as south korea, taiwan, hong kong and singapore have made
substantial investments since 1988. (more/ips)


burma: calls (2)

singapore companies are involved in oil, shipping and light
manufacturing while also running a number of department stores.

the south korean electronics giant, daewoo, has several joint
ventures with the burmese government to produce television sets,
refrigerators and other consumer electronics. south korean companies
have also obtained logging, mining and oil concessions.

hong kong government trade figures show the british colony's
trade with burma has doubled in just two years to almost 51 million
dollars in 1991.

timber supplies from burma rose by 34 percent last year to 27.4
billion dollars and accounted for over 90 percent of hong kong's
imports from the country.

according to the 'burma rights movement for action', which is
actively pressing asian investors to withdraw from burma, such
investments have helped keep the military regime in power.

the state law and order restoration council (slorc) which came to
power in 1988 was virtually bankrupt by the end of its first year,
with foreign debts of 5.98 billion dollars -- or almost 70 percent
of gnp. the debt required some 238 million dollars a year to
service.

slorc turned to foreign investors to bring in much-needed foreign
currency, passing a new foreign investment law in november 1988 aimed
at opening up the country. it provided tax holidays, the right to
remit hard currency and guarantees against nationalisation.

''if foreign governments had kept up the pressure, it would have
been only a matter of time before slorc ran out of bullets,'' said
the burma rights movement.

slorc secured its survival by welcoming foreign investment and
selling burma's natural resources for foreign exchange. it has spent
most of this revenue of more than one billion u.s. dollars on
importing arms and ammunition, says the group.

burma's official defence budget has more than doubled since 1988.
official statistics put defence expenditure at 32 percent of burma's
budget for the fiscal year ending march 1991.

the burma rights groups says the massive arms build-up is aimed
solely at controlling burma's civilian population and fighting
ethnic minority insurgencies.

such arguments may be beginning to sink in. alan ng of hong kong's
chung tai company which imports burmese timber said he believed his
company should not be trading with burma. ''if we have some other
way to buy (hardwood), in my opinion we should do so,'' he said.
(end/ips/ys/lm/92)



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