Canada to impose sanctions on Burma (r)

[burma@xxxxxxxxxx]

         Canada to impose sanctions on Burma
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         (By Hari S. Maniam, Associated Press)
 
  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Canada will join the United States in
  imposing economic sanctions on Burma, saying Tuesday it had no luck
  encouraging the military regime to make democratic reforms.
 
  Canadian officials made the announcement after meeting with
  Burmese Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw, who they said was "unambiguously
  unresponsive'' to their concerns.
 
  "We didn't see any willingness to engage,'' Canadian Foreign
  Minister Lloyd Axworthy said in an interview with Voice of
  America radio. "Therefore, in this case ... a broader level of
  international censure, I think, is necessary.''
 
  Canada is considering banning investments and limiting trade to
  counter Burma's attempts to encourage foreign investment through
  its new status as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian
  Nations, the officials said.
 
  ASEAN  Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the
  Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Laos and Burma  concluded a
  series of annual security talks Tuesday with Asian and Western
  countries.
 
  At a closing news conference, Ohn Gyaw defended Burma's
  record.
 
  "We are proceeding toward democracy,'' he said, adding there were
  differences of opinion on "whether that democracy accords with the
  outside world's perception or is in accordance with our own
  values.''
 
  Stuart Eizenstat, U.S. undersecretary of state, was unconvinced.
 
  "Our view is that Burma's top drug traffickers have become leading
  investors in the economy and leading lights in the new political
  order,'' he said. This poisoned the atmosphere for foreign
  investment and was behind the U.S. ban on all new investment
  there, he added. The United States is seeking international
  cooperation to isolate Burma economically and politically to pressure
  its military government into making democratic reforms. It opposed
Burma's
  admission to ASEAN.
 
  Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she wasn't too worried that
  officials from some ASEAN nations have spoken out against the U.S.
sanctions.
 
  "They might have disagreed with me out of the meeting, but they agreed
with me
  in the meetings,'' she said in Singapore.
 
  The Southeast Asian nations meet annually with the United States,
Russia,
  China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, the European Union, New
Zealand and
  Australia.
 
 (AP, 29 July 1997)