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ASEAN to defy US on seat for Burma.
ASEAN to defy US on seat for Burma
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South-East Asian governments are closing ranks in defiance of
United States pressure to block the imminent admission of Burma to full
membership of their regional alliance.
Thailand yesterday joined Malaysia and Indonesia in rejecting US
calls to stall Burmese membership of the seven-country Association of
South-East Asian Nations because of continuing human rights violations by
Burma's military regime.
A meeting next month of regional foreign ministers is expected to
endorse Burmese entry to ASEAN by as early as July.
The US, which last week banned new American investment in Burma,
stepped up its attack on the regime at the weekend by making its first
public call for Burmese exclusion from ASEAN.
A State Department spokesman, Mr Nicholas Burns, confirmed in
Washington that the US, which has a dialogue partnership with ASEAN, was
lobbying regional governments on the issue to give Burma "a stiff message
that it's not welcome".
But in a sign that the Burma issue could seriously strain
relations between the US and the region, ASEAN leaders are signalling
that they will stick to their plans to admit Burma, Cambodia and Laos to
the grouping later this year.
The tough new US stand will further highlight Australia's
reluctance to confront regional governments on human rights issues. The
Federal Government last week refused to join the US investment ban.
A spokesman for the Thai Foreign Ministry yesterday flatly
rejected any delay in Burmese admission to ASEAN.
"Whatever happens, Thailand maintains its standpoint to support
Burma in becoming a member of ASEAN because we have already made the
decision," the spokesman said. "We accept the right of the US to declare
this, but Thailand also has the right to its position... Thailand must
always be careful and sincere in its relations with neighboring countries."
Malaysia, which will host meetings later this year marking
ASEAN's 30th anniversary, is insisting that the seteriorating political
situation in Burma should not be used to delay membership. Indonesia,
Singapore and Vietnam have also opposed the US investment ban and
reaffirmed their support for ASEAN's policy of "constructive engagement"
- under which regional governments are expanding economic and political
links in the hope of encouraging political reform in Burma.
The Phillippine - the most democratic of the ASEAN countries -
has not directly rejected the US call to block Burmese membership.
The Burmese democracy leader, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, praised the US
investment ban and endorsed moves to keep the country out of ASEAN.
Ms Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy won a landslide
election victory in 1991 but was barred from taking power by the
military, said human rights violations had worsened in Burma over the
past six months. The Burmese leadership renewed calls for ASEAN to resist
the US pressure.
[By Mark Baker, South-East Asia correspondent, Bangkok,
Sunday, 27 April 1997].
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