A Rock Lifts Burma Spirits
Source : DOMINIC FAULDER, ASIAWEEK (Feb 05)
Does a jade find signal national reconciliation?
At last some good news from Burma. In Phakant, Kachin State, a 2,000-ton jade dyke measuring about 21 meters by six meters by five meters has been discovered buried deep in the ground. According to official sources, "the dyke has a white underside and is a stunning palette of green and purple crystal." It was discovered using "high-tech mining techniques."
To most, this would be nothing much more than an exceptionally large lump of green rock, though beautiful to behold and presumably worth quite a lot if broken up for jewelry. To seasoned Burma watchers, it is something far more significant: a bona fide good omen - a portent of better things to come. What is more auspicious than unearthing buried treasure? Portents are extremely important in Burma. For example, the massive pro-democracy uprising in August 1988 was heralded by a large earthquake in the north of the country, an unmistakable augur of sudden change. In early 1990, a massive 496-carat ruby was mined near Mogok and smuggled to Bangkok. Using a Military Intelligence unit, the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) mounted a cloak-and-dagger recovery operation in the Thai capital. The gem was seized, spirited to Rangoon and dubbed the "SLORC Ruby." A remarkable photograph appeared in The Working People's Daily of Senior Gen. Saw Maung gazing in delight at this magnificent portent from Burma's fabled "treasure lands." For him, the SLORC Ruby was a dazzling benediction upon the junta, a mystical sign that they were traveling along the right road.
Less superstitious folk might point out that these two portents actually failed to deliver anything useful. The 1988 uprising did not bring democratization, and General Saw Maung was dispatched to oblivion in a palace coup in 1992. Burma today remains an impoverished hermit nation at diplomatic war with much of the world, a country where economic and political reform move at the pace of a glacier. Even so, portents remain very important to the Burmese - and everyone is on the lookout for signs of good news from Burma. One of the eager pilgrims to the jade dyke was Lt.-Gen. Khin Nyunt. The powerful intelligence chief was pictured gazing intently down the mineshaft.
One can only wonder what he made of this amazing natural phenomenon. But it's what else is on his mind that everyone really wants to know. Certainly, it's more than green rocks. According to diplomats, Khin Nyunt has met at least twice with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in recent months, the first encounters since those in 1994 that that led up to her release from six years of house arrest. "We had the impression that the contacts were the most interesting thing to happen since [elections in] 1990," said a Swedish member of a small European Union delegation that recently met Suu Kyi.
It is too soon to say whether this is a precursor to a serious dialogue between the military regime and what remains of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. There have been false starts before. Nevertheless, there are other encouraging signs. Around October, the state media began to tone down its incessant vitriol against Suu Kyi. Indeed, the regime went strangely silent. Suu Kyi recently won a legal case that the military could easily have manipulated to force her out of her family home. And some detained NLD members have been released, including party vice chairman Tin Oo. Khin Nyunt recently acknowledged how serious a problem AIDS has become in Myanmar, now one of the worst-affected countries in Asia. Only six months ago, such an admission was tantamount to treason. Could the glacier be speeding up? If so, why?
Probably for a combination of reasons. All is not well in the massive military apparatus, which now exceeds 400,000. In the middle of last year, there were unusual signs of restiveness in quite senior ranks. It is a mistake to assume that Suu Kyi has no support in the military, or that ordinary Burmese foot soldiers are content with their dreadful lot. Burma has also thrown a huge spanner in the otherwise fairly cordial relations between ASEAN and the E.U., and this problem has festered. The country has been subjected to a massive campaign of international ostracism, including economic sanctions by the U.S. The International Labor Organization last year belatedly censured Myanmar for its appalling labor history, and there has been a sustained campaign to dissuade tourists from visiting. A vociferous international pro-democracy lobby is at work, and the foreign media are generally highly critical of the regime. Burma's economy remains in a shambles, and its currency is worthless. In short, virtually everybody in Burma is a loser from the stalemate between the government and the opposition.
Although Burma's shortcomings have attracted far more international attention since the 1988 uprising, few of these problems are actually new to the military. So why should they not set their jaws and carry on as before? After all, Colin Powell, the new U.S. Secretary of State, has suggested that sanctions show "a degree of American hubris and arrogance that may not, at the end of the day, serve our interests all that well." The junta has made no secret of its wish to see sanctions lifted, but this is by no means yet a done deal and, anyhow, would not solve Burma's myriad other problems.
In Rangoon, both sides are keeping absolutely silent about the substance of their discussions. This is encouraging and exactly as it should be. At the end of the day, it is far more important that the Burmese themselves find a way to resolve their differences peacefully than to have solutions foisted upon them from outside, however well intended. If a way forward can be found, the credit will be all theirs and the results far more durable.
The treasure beneath the surface of the country's troubles is national reconciliation, economic and social regeneration, peace, and the welcoming back of Burma into the family of nations. The jade dyke can only be a good portent. It proves there is always a reward if you search hard enough.