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Statement on Burma by Secretary Alb
- Subject: Statement on Burma by Secretary Alb
- From: zawzaw@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 09:13:00
<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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