[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
Singapore, Philippines defend ASEAN
- Subject: Singapore, Philippines defend ASEAN
- From: moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 16:56:00
Subject: Singapore, Philippines defend ASEAN expansion
Singapore, Philippines defend ASEAN expansion
05:03 a.m. Jun 10, 1997 Eastern
By Uday Khandeparkar
MANILA, June 10 (Reuter) - Singapore and the Philippines on
Tuesday defended a decision by the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) to admit international pariah Burma into their
club, saying it would make the group stronger.
``There would be a lot of common interest...to make ASEAN an
important economic bloc and also one with political influence,''
visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told a news
conference, dismissing objections by Western governments because
of human rights abuses in Burma.
The group decided 10 days ago to admit Burma, Laos and
Cambodia into ASEAN.
``We know that the U.S. and Europe are unhappy with Myanmar's
(Burma's) admission but we have always taken a position that the
internal situation of a country is that country's concern,'' Goh said on
the second day of his three-day official visit.
He said ASEAN believed it was better to engage Burma in
constructive dialogue so it could reform by looking at its neighbours.
``We don't believe that sanctions will work. We haven't heard
anybody come out with a better alternative than constructive
engagement,'' he said.
Goh said ASEAN members held a view that a country's internal
affairs were its own concerns.
``We know that many people are unhappy with human rights or
so-called human right abuses in countries within ASEAN. But we
want to work together and we do things our way.''
Western countries led by the United States had put pressure on the
group to deny membership to Burma because of its human rights
record.
ASEAN currently comprises Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and the new members
are expected to be formally admitted next month.
Philippine President Fidel Ramos, who jointly addressed the news
conference with Goh, also defended the group's decision to admit
Burma as a member.
``We look at ASEAN as a family where you have strong, capable,
economically affluent and at the same time some poor and weak
members who must be kept together within the family,'' he said.
ASEAN had grown into one of the most successful regional
groupings because of its policy of non-interference in the internal
affairs of its neighbours.
``We want to uplift everyone regardless of economic or political
situation. As far as the internal politics within each country, well, we
did not begin ASEAN by examining that and excluding those that
had a different system from ours,'' he said. ^REUTER@