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Statement on Burma by Secretary Alb



<bold><FontFamily><param>Times New Roman</param><bigger>Secretary of State=
 Madeleine K. Albright 
</bold>Statement on Burma 
Manila, Philippines, July 27, 1998
As released by the Office of the Spokesman
U.S. Department of State 


<paraindent><param>left</param><bold>MR. FOLEY:</bold> Thank you for gathe=
ring on short notice. 
Secretary Albright would like to make a statement on 
the situation in Burma and she=92s not going to address 
other issues. I would just point out to you that you=92ll 
have the opportunity to ask questions on a range of 
issues at her press conference at 7:30 p.m. But she=92s 
going to make a statement on Burma and if you have any 
questions, one or two, on that statement, then she=92ll 
entertain those. Madam Secretary.</paraindent>

<paraindent><param>left</param><bold>SECRETARY ALBRIGHT:</bold> Thank you =
very much. I 
just wanted to make quite clear how we deplore the 
government of Burma=92s refusal to allow members of the 
National League for Democracy, a legal political party, 
to travel freely in its own country. For the past three 
days, as the leader of the NLD, Aung San Suu Kyi, and 
other senior party officials have been prevented from 
leaving Rangoon to meet with NLD members elected to 
the parliament in Burma=92s last national election. These 
party members have also been detained to prevent them 
from traveling to Rangoon. We believe that freedom of 
movement is fundamental and that its denial can only 
increase the already dangerous state of tension in 
Burma. And we are gravely concerned about the health 
and safety of Aung San Suu Kyi and will hold the 
Burmese authorities directly responsible for insuring her 
health and welfare. </paraindent>

<paraindent><param>left</param><bold>QUESTION:</bold> Madam Secretary, hav=
e you found the 
same level of concern and outrage among other 
members here at this conference?</paraindent>

<paraindent><param>left</param><bold>SECRETARY ALBRIGHT:</bold> Yes, I hav=
e to say 
interestingly enough there are a number of Asian 
members of ASEAN who have spoken about the 
problems in Burma, and I think that there is a general 
concern about the condition of Aung San Suu Kyi and 
her ability to move forward and try to get in touch with 
her own people and there have also been expressions of 
concern about the numbers of refugees that have been 
moving from Burma to Thailand. The Burmese 
representative here has just responded to the number of 
allegations and I think his response is quite typical of the 
problem of an authoritarian government that doesn=92t get 
it; that blames the victim for the problem and their ability 
to disregard the fact that Aung Sun Suu Kyi is popularly 
elected and that the people she is trying to see are 
popularly elected speaks volumes about their lack of 
understanding about what it means to have some kind of 
a form of Constitutional government.</paraindent>

<paraindent><param>left</param><bold>QUESTION: </bold>Is there any possibi=
lity of getting a formal 
statement from the meeting here about them?</paraindent>

<paraindent><param>left</param><bold>SECRETARY ALBRIGHT:</bold> I don=92t =
know what state 
that=92s going to be in. Frankly, I=92d be surprised because I 
think that of the things required is consensus. And I think 
that is not overall, but I do think that what has happened 
that I find very interesting in contrast to last year when I 
raised the problems of Burma also is that there is a sense 
that Burma is not moving in the right direction. I think 
there had been a feeling among the ASEAN members 
that if Burma became a part of ASEAN, it would have a 
more positive influence. My own assessment of what 
I=92ve heard is that there is a sense of disappointment 
about the direction in which Burma is moving. And I was 
very encouraged -- because I have cared a great deal 
about this issue for some time -- about the number of 
countries that have joined in questioning what is going on 
in Burma in full sight of the Burmese foreign minister who 
in fact was forced to reply, though the answer certainly 
was anything but satisfactory.</paraindent>

<paraindent><param>left</param><bold>QUESTION: </bold>How do you respond t=
o the Japanese 
decision to go ahead with (Official Development Aid) to 
Burma despite a deterioration --</paraindent>

<paraindent><param>left</param><bold>SECRETARY ALBRIGHT:</bold> I think th=
at the Japanese 
have always had a different approach in terms of their 
engagement, but I was interested that the Japanese 
representative also did speak about the problems in 
Burma.</paraindent>

<paraindent><param>left</param>Thank you all.</paraindent>

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