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Conflicting signals remain over Bur
- Subject: Conflicting signals remain over Bur
- From: ausgeo@xxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 30 May 1997 18:16:00
Subject: Conflicting signals remain over Burma's admission
Saturday May 31 1997
Conflicting signals remain over Burma's admission
IAN STEWART and Agencies in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok
Burma said yesterday it was confident Asean foreign ministers meeting in Kuala
Lumpur today would decide when to admit the country as a new member without
being swayed by outside opinion.
But senior members of the seven-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
group continued to send conflicting signals over the country's admission
time-frame.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said there was no consensus on the
timing of Rangoon's entry. And the influential head of the Philippines Senate
foreign relations committee, Blas Ople, said Burma should not be allowed to
join until its rulers ended their "brutal repression".
But Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said it was his country's position
that July "will be an acceptable date" for Burma, Cambodia and Laos to join
Asean.
Thai Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasan said the countries' internal politics
"are an important factor to consider".
Mr Alatas said, however, that internal troubles in Cambodia - where the
political crisis has virtually shut down the Government and paralysed
Parliament - were no obstacle to its entry.
He said the three would join either in July, when Asean foreign ministers hold
their annual meeting, or in December when their heads of government hold a
summit. The admission date would be decided by consensus, he said.
Malaysia, this year's chairman, has been pressing for the induction to take
place in July.
The United States and the European Union have openly pressured Asean to delay
Burma's membership because of its human rights record.
An influential Malaysian Muslim group this week urged that Burma's admission
be deferred, and activists representing 22 Malaysian non-governmental
organisations protested outside the Foreign Ministry in Kuala Lumpur
yesterday, urging abandonment of Asean's "failed" policy of constructive
engagement with the Rangoon junta.
The military junta blocked roads and detained more than 300 opposition party
supporters to prevent a congress being held this week by Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy. Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in
March have also raised concern.
"It's very hard to read," one Western diplomat said. "My guess is that it will
still happen in July."
However, Cambodia's Parliament has not been able to ratify key documents
required for membership, and the diplomat said: "Cambodia could be the
smokescreen they hide behind if the decision is to delay. The ratification
issue isn't crucial [but] this is the land of fudge."
South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd.