U.S.Policy Statement on Burma by U

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Dear Netters,
                   The following is the  Statement on Burma by US Secretary
of State as released by the Office of the Spokesman,U.S. Department of State.

Thank you.

Sincerely.

Julien Moe
------------------
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright 
Statement on Burma 
Manila, Philippines, July 27, 1998
As released by the Office of the Spokesman
U.S. Department of State 



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

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Thank you very much. I just wanted to make quite 
clear how we deplore the government of Burma's 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's 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. 

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, have you found the same level of concern and 
outrage among other members here at this conference?

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Yes, I have 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't 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.

QUESTION: Is there any possibility of getting a formal statement from 
the meeting here about them?

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I don't know what state that's going to be in. 
Frankly, I'd 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've 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.

QUESTION: How do you respond to the Japanese decision to go ahead with 
(Official Development Aid) to Burma despite a deterioration --

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I think that 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.

Thank you all.


[End of Document]