Foreign Ministry Statement (JAPAN)

[kyawkyaw@xxxxxxx]

			Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
				    Japan

  Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public
  Relations of the Foreign Ministry on the Situation in Myanmar (Meeting
               between Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt and Mr. Aung Shwe) 


       August 19, 1998 

   1.Japan welcomes the meeting that took place on August 18 between Lt.
Gen. Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1 of the State Peace
     and Development Council (SPDC), and Mr. Aung Shwe, Chairman of the
National League for Democracy (NLD). 

   2.Japan has taken every opportunity to encourage both sides to engage in
dialogue, based on the recognition that talks
     between the Government of Myanmar and the NLD including Aung San Suu
Kyi are vital for the democratization of and
     the improvement of the human rights situation in Myanmar.
        The Government of Myanmar announced its hope that this would be the
first in a series of confidence-building talks
     between the government and the NLD. Japan strongly hopes that this
meeting will become the first step along the road to
     significant dialogue between the Government of Myanmar and the NLD
including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. 

   3.Japan is greatly concerned that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other members
of the NLD are still restricted in their
     political activities, and strongly hopes that dialogue between the
Government of Myanmar and the NLD will bring about
     substantive progress in the situation.