Editorial & Opinion Win Aung puts

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Subject: Editorial & Opinion  Win Aung puts Thailand's loyalty to the  test

Editorial & Opinion 
Win Aung puts Thailand's loyalty to the test

The European Union's refusal to sit at the same table with Burma has Thailand
in a dilemma: Does it show solidarity with its Asean partner or turn its back
in order to win EU economic assistance. Rita Patiyasevi reports. 

Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung's one-day official visit to Thailand
tomorrow
will have wider implications than just strengthening diplomatic ties and
fostering closer cooperation to prevent conflicts at sea. 

Win Aung's arrival in Bangkok tonight marks the final leg of a four-day
tour of
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) which included Brunei,
Indonesia
and Singapore. The visit will attest to Asean's solidarity and Thai foreign
policy amidst the mounting uncertainty and widening rift between the Asian
grouping and the European Union (EU) which has soured since Burma's admission
in 1997. 

Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan and Win Aung will focus on enhancing ties and
cooperation including the establishment of ''interim measures'' to diffuse
potential conflicts in overlapping sea-claims off Thailand's Ranong province.
Also high on the agenda will be the issue of next month's Asean-EU Ministerial
Meeting (AEMM). 
EU member countries and the United States are highly critical of Burma's poor
human rights record and strongly opposed the country's entry into Asean.
Thailand and Asean, on the other hand, have continued to argue for a policy of
''enhancing interaction'', earlier termed ''constructive engagement'' with
Burma, arguing that this policy would bring improvements in the military junta
and progress in the development of democracy in the country. 

Subsequent events in Burma have proven Asean wrong, however, and some
association members are beginning to realise the consequences: that the
Burmese
issue could well hamper relations with the EU -- its oldest dialogue partner.
If relations are severed over the issue, it could affect future Asean-EU
cooperation which is much needed to help stimulate the region's economy and
prevent it from sinking even further as a result of the economic crisis. 

Thailand, as Asean co-ordinator for the Asean-EU consultation meeting,
believes

it can work out a formula so discussions on technical cooperation between the
two blocs can proceed. Despite Surin's repeated attempts to push for the Joint
Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting, however, a technical consultation meeting
of senior officials of the two blocs was earlier this year postponed for the
third time. 

Thailand and Germany -- which currently holds the EU presidency on a rotating
basis, are now trying to save the Asian-EU Ministerial Meeting (AEMM),
scheduled on March 30, from the same fate. 
The earlier postponements of the JCC meeting clearly signaled the EU's
position
that unless there was tangible progress in human rights within Burma, the EU
would not allow that country's senior officials to sit at the same table with
their own. 

Some Asean officials have criticised the EU for double standards, saying its
members have attended meetings when Burma participated -- namely Asean's
annual
Post-Ministerial Meeting (PMC) and the Asean Regional Forum (ARF). The Asean
officials maintain that the EU's position was creating all sorts of
difficulties regarding the JCC meeting. 

The EU's position is that while the PMC and ARF were meetings held in Asean
countries, it will not allow Burmese senior officials to attend meetings when
an EU member country played host. 

Foreign Minister Surin is determined to resolve the issue and plans to discuss
it with Win Aung tomorrow. The best resolution would be one that allows
face-saving on both sides. 

Win Aung is visiting Thailand for the first time since his appointment last
November during a major cabinet reshuffle in Burma. He replaced Burma's former
foreign minister Ohn Gyaw who held the post since 1991. Win Aung's appointment
is seen as an attempt to inject a fresh face into Burma's foreign policy. 

Asean will have to make a decision even more difficult than when it accepted
Burma into the grouping. This is because the Burmese issue has created two
schools of thought: one is that since Burma is now an Asean member, the
grouping should maintain solidarity in demanding that the two groupings
participate in the AEMM at the same ministerial level. The other view is based
on foreign policy priorities, which call for a decision that best serves the
national interest. This would imply compliance with the EU's demands and a
back
down on the issue of Burma. 

The EU's position on Burma has remained unchanged despite earlier signs of
compromise. In October last year, during Austria's presidency, the EU
agreed to
an Asean-EU consultation to be held by the end of the year. At the same time,
however, the grouping toughened its sanctions against the ruling junta over
its
worsening human rights record. 

In a statement issued by Luxembourg, the EU said because of the importance it
placed on its relationship with Asean, they would accept the presence of
Burmese representatives at the next JCC meeting held under the 1980
Asean-European Commission Economic Cooperation Agreement. The EU also extended
the 1996 sanctions against the Burmese regime to reflect its concern over the
deteriorating human rights situation in the country. The EU-Asean compromise

would then enable the JCC to be held in November after being put off for
over a
year. 

The JCC meeting, however, was rescheduled and recent statements by British
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook clearly point to the EU's tough stand on the
Burmese issue. 

The Burmese junta has done little to improve its human rights record and
continued to detain some 182 National League of Democracy (NLD) MPs elected in
1990, and 701 party cadres. 

Burma's regime also recently engaged in a systematic campaign to pressure and
intimidate the NLD through the printing of letters by ethnic minority groups
that have already reached a cease-fire agreement with the government, which
were critical of the political actions of the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi. 

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, an instrument of the ruling junta, also
printed editorials and quoted citizens calling for Aung San Suu Kyi's
expulsion. The mounting pressure has led to the closing down of the NLD's
regional offices, along with the resignation of members of those offices from
the NLD. 

On November 22, 1998, the government claimed that NLD regional offices in 12
towns had been closed and more than 1,200 NLD members had resigned. The NLD,
however, said the closures and resignations were not valid without the
authorisation of the NLD Central Executive Committee in Rangoon. 

Many western countries including EU member nations believe that such actions
are part of a concerted effort to undermine and eventually destroy the NLD. 

The EU, and the Scandinavian countries in particular, are not likely to forget
Leo Nichols, their honorary council who died in a Burmese prison in June
1996. 

Burma must make a profound move to improve its situation, and the best
would be
to seize the opportunity when Alvaro de Soto, political affairs assistant to
the United Nations secretary general, visits the country again next month. 

De Soto visited Burma in October last year with the aim of providing
assistance
on humanitarian grounds. During that visit, De Soto met both Lt Gen Khin
Nyunt,
secretary one of the State Peace and Development Council, and Aung San Suu
Kyi.
He informed both leaders that the UNSG was willing to co-ordinate with
international financial institutions such as the World Bank, to consider
provide the Burmese government with technical assistance to develop the
country's economy. 

De Soto did not mention to either the government or the opposition whether
there would be specific preconditions attached to the assistance package, and
the response was positive from both sides. 
Considering Asia's current vulnerability due to the economic situation and
dwindling trade and investment in Burma as a result of the economic crisis,
the
Burmese junta would be wise to show significant progress in human rights and
political reform. 

Burma's economy is in ruins with the region's economic decline affecting
investment in the country. The country's foreign currency reserve is estimated
to be below US$150 million. There have been reports that Burma has already
mortgaged potential revenue from the Yadana gas pipeline project for the next
two years. In August last year, the World Bank suspended lending to Burma

because the country has defaulted on repayment of past loans. This lead to
alarm bells ringing in the ears of foreign investors and left the country at
considerable economic risk. 

Considering all the scenarios, the Burmese junta should in good conscience
release all its political prisoners, not just one or two. If the country's
regime remains obstinate, though, Asean will be forced into a dilemma: should
it show solidarity and support Burma, or follow its conscience, laced with
national interests, and turn its back on the regime in order to secure the
benefits to be gained from Asean-EU cooperation. 

The Nation