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Burmese Win Observer Status in Sout
- Subject: Burmese Win Observer Status in Sout
- From: Winston_Lee@xxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 08:28:00
Subject: Burmese Win Observer Status in Southeast Asian Group
Fr NYT, July 22, 1996, by Seth Mydans
Bangkok, Thailand, July 21 -- The military Government of Myanmar took a major
step toward international legitimacy this weekend as its Southeast Asians
neighbors welcomed it into a regional partnership and told Western countries
not to interfere. "Heartfelt congratulations," Foreign Minister Domingo Siazon
of the Philippines said today in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the seven-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations granted Myanmar observer status, a first
step toward full membership in the group, which is also known as Asean.
Myanmar's Foreign Minister, U Ohn Gyaw, was greeted with a warm applause on
Saturday and told his new colleagues, "Today is a historic moment for Southeast
Asia." The celebratory atmosphere contrasted with growing antagonism of
Western countries, which have criticized Myanmar, formerly Burma, for human
rights violations and urged steps to isolate it economically or at least to
press it to make reforms.
An outcry against Myanmar has grown in recent weeks as tensions have heightened
between the governing junta and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the
democratic opposition, which is demanding the share in Government that she was
denied after her party won an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections
in 1990. Two years earlier, hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators were
killed by the Government forces.
In My, the Government arrested 273 members of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's party to
prevent a conference marking the sixth anniversary of the elections, whose
results the Government refused to honor. Since then, a war of words have
veiled threats has escalated between Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi and the military
leaders.
Secretary of State Warren Christopher is due to meet with his counterparts in
Jakarta on Monday and Tuesday and is expected to urge them to use their
influence to bring about changes in Myanmar. But the United States has so far
stopped short of calling for the economic sanctions that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi
is now urging. Mr. Christopher is to sit across the table from U Ohn Gyaw at
the Asean Regional Forum, the regional security grouping, but the two men have
not scheduled a direct meeting.
Foreign ministers from Europe and Australia were also expected to urge stronger
action against Myanmar, but Asean leaders have already staked out a firm
position. "Asean has one cardinal rule, and that is not to interfere in the
internal affairs of other countries," said Indonesian Foreign Minister, Ali
Alatas. He said the countries of the region "prefer to work quietly on issues
of internal matters" and said Western countries must realize that "this is our
organization, not theirs."
Last week, the association's Secretary General, Ajit Singh of Malaysia, was
even more blunt, saying "The West and the Media are going on a witch hunt as
far as Myanmar is concerned, because it is not an issue at all as far as Asean
is concerned."
Indeed, the final communiqu? of the two-day meeting of foreign ministers,
issued today, did not mention the issue of human rights abuses in Myanmar,
though it referred to more distant problems in the Middle East, Bosnia and
Korea. Myanmar's neighbors subscribe to the principle of "constructive
engagement," arguing that a country's policies can best be influenced - as they
were in Eastern Europe -- by enriching diplomatic and economic involvement.
They argue that sanctions and ostracism have had little effect on the Communist
Governments of Vietnam and Cuba.
One of the least developed and potentially richest nations in the region,
Myanmar offers tempting business opportunities, and Southeast Asian countries,
led by Singapore, have plunged into trade and investment there since the
Government began liberalizing its economic policies seven years ago. In
addition, their successful regional grouping holds to a dream of including all
10 Southeast Asian countries by the end of the century. Vietnam recently ended
years of antagonism by joining Asean, which also includes Indonesia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei. Cambodia and Laos also
gained observer status this weekend.
"They want a Southeast Asian 10, without a loose cannon on deck that anyone
like China can play with," said Carlyle A. Thayer, who heads the School of
Politics at the Australian Defense Force Academy. "They want to get Burma
inside the tent of Asean. They adhere to collectivist Asian values and argue
that they will be more effective engaging Burma rather than isolating it."
Myanmar receives extensive military aid from China, and diplomatic relations
between the countries are warm. The growing regional power of China is a main
concern of the Southeast Asian grouping. Nevertheless, the timing of Myanmar's
inclusion as an observer is awkward, and any severe crackdown there would be
embarrassing for the country's new colleagues.
One year ago the Government released Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi from six years of
house arrest, apparently hoping to defuse international criticism. But its
failure to open a dialogue with her and its continuing harsh treatment of her
supporters have brought continuing calls for sanctions.
The death in prison one month ago her godfather, James Leander Nichols - who
was the unaccredited honorary consul for several Scandinavian countries -
brought a new round of criticism that led to the pullout from Myanmar of the
Carlsberg and Heineken breweries.
Sidney Jones, executive director of Human Rights Watch/Asia, said last week
that the policy of constructive engagement had clearly failed. "With an
increase in migrant and refugee outflows, stepped-up arrests and continuing
forced labor," she said in a statement, "Asean must either conclude that its
policy of engagement is bankrupt, or use its influence with Burma to halt the
slide."
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, 51, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has stepped
up her public challenge to the Government since the wave of arrests in May. In
a videotape smuggled from Myanmar in advance of the Asean meeting, she called
for economic sanctions, saying, "We think this is the time for concerted
international efforts with regard to the democratic process in Burma." She has
announced plans to draft a constitution that would reduce the military's
political role, and she has asserted that she will continue to hold meetings of
her supporters, although the Government has warned that both of these
activities are illegal.
For its part, the Government has increased the harshness of its press
commentaries against her, suggesting that her activities are subversive and
that she is under the control of enemies from the West. The commentaries seem
intended to alienate her from the public and also to lay the groundwork for any
possible action against her. On Saturday, as U Ohn Gyaw was being welcomed in
Jakarta, the controlled press castigated Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi as a "fifth
columnist," "power crazy" and a "stooge of the imperialists" who has been
tainted by her marriage to a Briton, Michael Aris. "Aung San Suu Kyi had her
blood mixed with that of an Englishman and gave birth to two half-castes," it
said. "Suu Kyi has been in the Englishman's arms." //END//