Cablegate: Burmese Regime Reacts to Possible Unsc Action

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RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2759
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RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 000981

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS; PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON PREL BM
SUBJECT: BURMESE REGIME REACTS TO POSSIBLE UNSC ACTION

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1. (SBU) Summary: The government daily newspaper, the New
Light of Myanmar (NLM), has recently intensified the quantity
and degree of its rhetoric against its political opposition
in an ongoing series of multi-page articles. The articles
also attempt to counter charges that Burma represents a
threat to regional security justifying UN Security Council
attention. This has struck a nerve and these articles are
the reaction. End summary.

2. (SBU) The main regime-controlled English daily, the New
Light of Myanmar, increased its articles/editorials attacking
its political opposition, defending GOB practices, and
accusing western interests of trying to overthrow the Burmese
regime and install a "puppet" NLD government. The NLM
articles describe the opposition as either tools of, or
providing bad information to, Western plotters, and warn the
Burmese "to be well vigilant against the ongoing political
warfare operation of the alien powers through which they are
persuading...nations that support Myanmar to marginalize the
country, and to bring forward Myanmar affairs to the UNSC to
take action against it."

3. (SBU) Addressing the international community's concerns
about forced labor, a July 6 article states that, "From time
immemorial, Myanmar national people have been contributing
towards construction of self-reliant roads and bridges of
their own volition. Those who use the norms practiced in
western countries to make accusations of forced labor have
not participated in the construction of a road or bridge."
Other articles criticize ILO efforts to reduce forced labor.

Defending Internal Political Stability
--------------------------------------
4. (SBU) The articles try to make the case that only the
Tatmadaw (military) can safeguard the Burmese people against
the dangers of internal and external insurgents. A June 21
article claimed that the country was on the brink of disaster
in 1988 when the Tatmadaw stepped in to create order.
Another article on June 19 reported the country was "making
strenuous efforts to gain national reconciliation, and
further cementing of national unity." Other articles charge
some groups with attempting to destabilize Burma, such as the
Karen National Union and remnants of the Burmese Communist
Party (BCP) now in league with the NLD. Articles on June 18
and June 22 call the KNU a terrorist organization, and
justify Burmese Army actions against it as "just, fair and
necessary" so that "the motherland did not lose its
sovereignty." A June 21 article reports on BCP conspiracies
with internal and external saboteurs that aim to "reverse the
GOB trend" of peace and prosperity.

5. (SBU) The articles assert that democracyQn Burma must
develop slowly, through the seven-step SPDC Roadmap.
According to the June 21 NLM, the Roadmap to democracy has
been successful, with the National Convention ready to
conclude "in the near future." A July 5 editorial claims,
"Liberal democracy may be the right choice for countries like
the USA, India, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and
Indonesia. As for Myanmar where democracy has not flourished
yet...liberal democracy is stranger to her as a (bald) monk
is to a comb. It is not the government that is rejecting
liberal democracy, but the objective economic and political
situations existing in the nation...What is most appropriate
is national democracy (discipline-flourishing democracy), not
western liberal democracy." The articles describe the ruling
government's policy also as "scientific nationalism."
According to the NLM, this means: "priority is given to the
domestic market, and the policy will never go extreme and

RANGOON 00000981 002.2 OF 003

will never colonize others."

Discredit the Opposition
------------------------
6. (SBU) Numerous articles have discredited opposition
groups, including the NLD, 88 Generation Students, Shan
Women's Action Network (SWAN) and Veteran Politicians,
claiming that external forces influence these groups to make
unwarranted charges against the regime. A June 22 article
states, "We have observed that remnants of the BCP, NCUB, and
expatriates, party politicians, veteran politicians, new
generations politicians, individual or independent
politicians have repeatedly expressed the idea of grabbing
State power through inciting internal unrest."

7. (SBU) The NLM articles regularly criticize Aung San Suu
Kyi's leadership skills and her lack of understanding of the
nation. A July 5 article titled, "She who turned alien or
danger to the nation," claimed that her release, requested by
the US and liberal groups, would be dangerous for her and for
the nation. It states, "The government and Daw Suu Kyi and
the NLD are moving towards opposite directions...it is
absolutely impossible to reach an agreement between the two
sides." Asking the GOB for her release is wrong, according
to the article, because only she can release herself by
giving up her advocacy of "liberal policy." "Until then," it
added, "the restrictions (on her) will never be lifted."

8. (SBU) The articles charge "powerful nations of the west,"
or "certain foreign powers" with trying to install NLD as
their "minion" and "a puppet government." The articles cite
multiple visits made by diplomats to NLD headquarters as
proof of these plots, and claim that the visits go beyond
proper diplomatic behavior. A June 25 article claims that
"the notorious power" is the "mastermind manipulating the
strings from behind such internal and external groups" who
conspire to overthrow the GOB.

No Cross Border Concerns
------------------------
9. (SBU) The press campaign also tries to address claims that
events inside Burma pose a threat to the region. A June 19
article states, "the conditions of Myanmar do not pose any
threats to regional security or the security of neighboring
countries." A number of articles mention international
concerns such as trafficking in persons and drugs, refugees,
and diseases. The authors refute criticisms by listing SPDC
accomplishments, including declining drug production and
abuse, increasing numbers of rescued trafficking victims and
prosecuted traffickers, infrastructure construction, growing
agricultural production, and accelerating GDP growth. On
July 6, another article stated, "The developments and new
infrastructures stand witness to the fact that (Burma) is
enjoying progress in all sectors and prove that all
slanderous accusations against it are wrong." The authors
boast that these accomplishments were achieved without
international assistance, bolstering regime claims of
internal control and stability. They dismiss claims about
refugees, describing them as only relatives of KNU members
and others who do not want to live under rule of law.

Summing Up
----------
10. (SBU) The July 5 article summed up the differences
between the regime and its political opposition. "The ruling
government is the national government, the policy is the
scientific nationalism, the economic system is the

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market-oriented economy or capitalism under the leadership of
the state, and the political aim is discipline-flourishing
democracy (national democracy) to be introduced in accordance
with the Asian wQ." In contrast: "The policy of Daw Suu Kyi
and the NLD is not the nationalism, but the liberal way,
opposite of nationalism. Their economy is the westernized
market economy, their economic policy is capitalism under the
leadership of capitalists or liberal economy, and their
politics is liberal democracy, not the national democracy."

10. (SBU) Comment: Yes. We do support the policies the NLM
ascribes to ASSK and the NLD. The regime's diatribes against
the pro-democracy opposition and us wax and wane over the
years, without changing minds. The discussion of possible
UNSC action now has struck a nerve because it challenges the
regime's legitimacy before the international community. The
Burmese people declared them illegitimate in 1990. End
comment.
VILLAROSA

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