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Lawmakers, activists pan Burma MOU

Lawmakers and Free Burma activists yesterday condemned the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) for signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) to increase investment in the military junta-controlled country.

“On June 13, just days before the birthday of [Burmese democracy leader] Aung San Suu Kyi — a leader who has been under house arrest by the military junta since 1989 — TAITRA signed an MOU with the UMFCCI, aimed at encouraging Taiwanese businesses to invest in Myanmar,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) told a press conference at the Legislative Yuan. “As the international community condemns the military junta for its authoritarian rule and violations of human rights, and imposes sanctions on it, our government seems to care more about making money than democratic values.”

Instead of trying to establish closer economic ties with Myanmar, Tien urged the government to support Burmese democracy activists.

“President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should ask the military junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Myanmar,” Tien said.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) also urged the public to pay attention to the issue and offer support to democracy movements in neighboring countries, including Myanmar.

“Doing business in a country like Myanmar means working with the military junta, bribing its officials and engaging in forced labor,” Taiwan Free Burma Network convener Son Yu-lian (孫友聯) said

DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) urged the government to condemn the military junta.

“We should not remain silent on this issue, especially after President Ma Ying-jeou signed two international human rights covenants earlier this year,” he said.

When contacted by the Taipei Times yesterday, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the government had no plan to express support for Aung San Suu Kyi.

TAITRA is an organization founded and run jointly by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and several private commercial and industrial organizations to promote trade relations between Taiwan and other countries.

TAITRA’s planning and finance department was in charge of signing the MOU with its counterpart in Myanmar. But officials at the department did not immediately return a request for comment last night.

An official from TAITRA’s market development department, who preferred to remain anonymous because she wasn’t authorized to speak to the press, dismissed lawmaker criticism, saying she viewed the MOU as a pact reached between two private organizations, not government agencies.

Additional reporting by Kevin Chen amd Jenny W. Hsu
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