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FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9046
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2001
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 5478
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 9072
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RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
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RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2454
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000321 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP, IO, G/TIP, AND DRL 
PACOM FOR FPA 
US MISSION GENEVA FOR LABOR ATTACHE 
NSC FOR LIZ PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2019 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PREL PHUM CASC BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: MEETING WITH MINISTER OF LABOR -- AUNG SAN 
SUU KYI; LABOR ISSUES 
 
REF: A. RANGOON 193 
     ¶B. RANGOON 302 
     ¶C. RANGOON 254 
     ¶D. RANGOON 111 
 
Classified By: CDA Larry Dinger for reasons 1.4 (b and d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C)  In a meeting on May 29, Burma's Labor Minister, 
Major General Aung Kyi, who is also the regime's point of 
contact for "relations" with Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK), 
signaled that he continues to believe ASSK only wants 
dialogue with Senior General Than Shwe.  Aung Kyi said that 
if ASSK wants to meet him, he is willing.  When the Charge 
conveyed a message from the National League for Democracy 
(NLD) seeking unconditional dialogue, the Minister asked for 
clarification: at what level?  Aung Kyi argued that the 
current trial against ASSK will go ahead "fairly;" and he 
emphasized the regime's view that all Burmese citizens must 
obey the law, especially those who aspire to lead.  When the 
Charge raised forced-labor and child-labor issues, Aung Kyi 
acknowledged continuing problems, said other developing 
countries have similar problems, and accented his ministry's 
efforts to educate the public about labor rights, including 
in unsecure parts of the country.  He defended using 
administrative rather than criminal penalties for military 
officers who break labor laws.  The Charge noted the 
disconnect between the regime's approach to military officers 
as compared to its handling of the ASSK criminal case.  End 
Summary. 
 
GOB relations with ASSK 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  When the Charge raised USG concerns about the ASSK 
trial, Minister Aung Kyi, who is the regime's formally 
designated agent for "relations" with ASSK,  responded by 
recalling the Charge's push during a meeting in March (Ref A) 
for the Minister to offer to resume dialogue with ASSK and 
the opposition.  He said he has thought seriously about the 
matter; but the last time he made an effort, ASSK clearly was 
interested only in talking "with the decision maker."  In 
that light, "it would be a burden to offer again."  The 
Minister said the recent Yettaw incident is "unfortunate," 
and could delay any future dialogue.  But, he concluded, "If 
she wants to meet me, I'm ready to do so."  Regarding 
top-level dialogue, he reiterated that the regime's 
pronouncement 1/2007 laid out the conditions under which 
Senior General Than Shwe would meet with ASSK.  (Note: She 
would have to disavow a series of allegations related to 
subverting the regime.  ASSK thus far has declined to disavow 
views she says she has never held.) 
 
NLD request for dialogue, but at what level? 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C)  The Charge conveyed a message from NLD Central 
Executive Committee (CEC) member Khin Maung Swe that the NLD 
genuinely wants to engage in an unconditional dialogue with 
the regime with all issues on the table.  (Note: per Ref B, 
Charge conveyed the same message to the Home Affairs Minister 
on May 21 - Ref B).  Aung Kyi's immediate response was: "at 
what level" of the regime?  The Minister said he reads the 
NLD's Shwegondaing Declaration issued at its recent national 
conference (Ref C) as confirming an interest to meet only 
with "the decision maker."  The Charge agreed to go back to 
the CEC to seek clarification, but he noted the NLD's clear 
statement in February of willingness to engage in 
unconditional dialogue (Ref D), responding to a call from the 
UN Secretary General.  The Minister suggested that two 
parties, if they are to have productive discussion, both 
"need the same vision to an extent.  The government is trying 
 
RANGOON 00000321  002 OF 002 
 
 
to improve the situation, but she always criticizes, is 
negative."  The Charge urged the government to pursue talks 
with the aim to build bridges, just like the Charge is 
talking with government ministers. 
 
The ASSK/Yettaw trial 
--------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C)  The Minister declined to speculate how the ASSK 
trial will turn out.  He noted that the process "is far from 
the Ministry of Labor."  He said Yettaw "was not created by 
the government," and suggested the incident was motivated by 
"internal disturbers or something else."  He said the trial 
will go ahead "fairly under the law," and he emphasized that, 
in the regime's view, "citizens must be disciplined." 
Anybody like ASSK who aspires to the role of political 
leader, "must abide by the law."  He expressed hope that the 
Charge "can improve bilateral relations."  The Charge 
emphasized that the international community, including the 
USG, doesn't buy the regime's argument.  The charges against 
ASSK are flimsy, and surely prosecutorial discretion could, 
and should, be invoked. 
 
Forced and Child Labor 
---------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C)  When the Charge turned the conversation to the 
Minister's labor portfolio, noting continuing international 
concern about reports of extensive forced labor and child 
labor, including by the military, the Minister responded that 
Burma is still a developing country, still struggling.  There 
may be forced labor in some areas, but as the ILO notes in a 
report prepared for its governing body, that situation is 
true in other countries, too.  The Minister believes the 
issue is not worse in Burma.  The Minister said the world 
cannot expect developed-country levels of performance; that 
takes time.  The Charge observed that many observers of the 
forced labor and child labor issues consider the situation in 
Burma to be among the worst in the world. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Aung Kyi said his ministry is trying as much as it 
can to raise people's knowledge of labor rights and 
responsibilities, even in unstable border areas.  The Charge 
acknowledged those important and useful efforts, as attested 
by the ILO's Burma representatives; but he also urged that 
the GOB punish those who break labor laws, including taking 
military officers to criminal trials under the penal code, 
not just invoking administrative punishments.  The Minister 
stated that the GOB takes action against anyone whom it 
determines recruited child soldiers.  It has taken action 
against about 50 officers, including a Lieutenant Colonel, 
Majors, and Captains.  But, the Minister said, it would be a 
waste of effort to take such people to trial.  That could 
cause "pressure or depression."  Thus, the preferred course 
is to "educate" them to become "cooperative."  The Charge 
noted the disconnect between the relatively gentle approach 
the regime takes toward military officers who break serious 
child-labor laws and the zero-tolerance approach thus far 
toward the ASSK trial. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  Minister Aung Kyi, along with the Foreign Minister 
and Information Minister, met with then-DAS John in Beijing 
in June 2007, the last effort at formal U.S.-Burma dialogue 
beyond the Embassy Rangoon channel.  Aung Kyi seems genuinely 
interested in bridge building; however, he acknowledges that 
he is not the regime's "decision maker."  We will continue to 
convey messages between the NLD CEC and the regime, ever 
hoping that a useful, direct conversation can commence.  Of 
course, the ASSK trial further complicates what was already a 
low-odds proposition. 
DINGER