International Herald Tribune

January 16, 1997

by Philip Bowring (IHT)

BANGKOK - Drugs as much as humar rights and trade could become the pivot in U.S. relations with South-east Asian countries. The reason is Burma.

Minor frictions will continue as Western nongovernmental effords to link trade and human rights mesh with local effords. These frictions are containeble within traditional close ties between the West and non-Communist South-east Asia. The regime in Rangoon is a different matter.

Western opposition to Burma being invited to join the Association of South East Asian Nations while the present regime remains in power has engendered planty of official resentment in a region sufficiently confident to react strongly agains outside interference. Established regimes in the ASEAN countries are also upset because local opposition parties, as in Malaysia, have latched on to the anti-Burma theme.

Geographically, Burma is part of the region, and its government is arguably only marginally more oppressive than that of Vietnam.It has received Western attention mainly because of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the persecuted opposition leader.

But one factor distinguishes Burma from Vietnam and lays ASEAN open to charges of hypocrisy: heroin.

The opium/heroin business has blossomed under Rangoon's junta. The realm of the drug lord Khun Sa has not been abolished, it has been absorbed. The junta is deeply involved with the drug barons. Drugs are the country's main income earner.

One result is that foreign investors, particulary in hotels and propety development, have difficulty finding partners whose capital does not derive from this souce.

ASEAN (and other) countries insist that investment will open up Burma politically and economically. It is none of their business how local partners get their funds.

But the heroin trade is increasingly a regional problem. Singapore's draconian antidrug laws have been successful in keeping local usage rates low, but Singapore is an exception. Addiction is surging in Malaysia, despite laws almost as tough as in Singapore. The number of addicts in Burma itself is now catching up with Thailand's estimated 500,000. China has major addiction problems in Yunnan.

Despite frequent executions of small dealers, and some high-profile punishment of foreigners, the region in general has made scant affort to tacle the kingpins. They are too rich, or are politically useful-especially to China.

Money laundering is often viewed as legitimate business for financial centres, and investors are not encouraged to look too closely at the color of their Burmese partners' money. Heroin is spreading in the region - and bringing needle-driven AIDS with it.

There is nothing now to be gained by backing away from a tough policy toward a regime for which heroin is not just an unfortunate fact of life, or even a useful bonus. Drugs and Chinese weapons are the Burmese junta's lifelines.

It is argued that the U.S. attitude toward the junta is driving it further into China's arms, depriving America of commercial opportunities and encouraging Rangoon's reliance on drug money. The reality is that Burma offers few legitimate, long-term business opportunities. And the reliance on China could scarcely be greater than it is now.

This is an issue on which the United States can take a stand and expect that ASEAN countries will swallow a little pride and recognize where their self-interest lies.