NEWS - Burma urges non-interference

[Rangoonp@xxxxxxx]

NOTE: Then why does the SPDC interfere in the lives of the Seperate and
different ethnic groups that it has No constitutional or legal right to
do so ??


Tuesday, July 27, 1999 Published at 09:40 GMT 10:40 UK


             World: Asia-Pacific

             Burma urges non-interference



             CAN FOLLOW ASEAN BILATERALS Burma has
             accused ASEAN's key economic and political partners
             of interfering in its internal affairs.

             The Foreign Minister, Win Aung speaking at the ASEAN
             meeting in Singapore said ASEAN's partners should
             understand that in order to advance relations with his
             country, they must respect the organisation's principles
             of non-interference, mutual respect and
             non-discrimination.

             Thailand has also defended the principle of
             non-interference in the internal affairs of member
             countries.

             The deputy-foreign-minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra said
             this was why he rejected a call from the Burmese
             opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, for ASEAN to use
             its influence to push Burma towards democracy. Burma
             has repeatedly been criticised by the United States and
             the European Union for alleged human rights abuses.

             From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

----------------
ASEAN Conference Ends
With Tensions Still High
Updated 1.32 p.m. ET (1732 GMT) July 27, 1999
By Tom Raum

USA TODAY
SINGAPORE   Asian foreign ministers wrapped up a
session with their Pacific and European counterparts
Tuesday with tensions still high over a new China-Taiwan
conflict, prospects of a North Korean missile test and
lingering financial uncertainties.

                        Secretary of State
                        Madeleine Albright raised
                        yet another concern,
                        making a pitch for cleaning
                        up the environment in the
                        region. She cited "pollution
                        from uncontrolled forest,
                        peat and coal seam fires."

                        "There is no more basic a
                        human right than the right

                        to breathe. But the haze
                        has sometimes made
                        exercising this right a
                        dangerous proposition," she
                        said on the final day of a
                        meeting hosted by the Association of Southeast
                        Asian nations.

But some Asian officials questioned the U.S. commitment to the region.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar suggested the United States
and
U.S. businesses have shown little financial interest in Southeast Asia,
despite the
rhetoric. He said overall U.S. investment in the region amounts to only
4
percent of
its overall foreign direct investment.

Southeast Asian hopes "that the U.S. would put more serious efforts in
its
development cooperation activities," he said.

Even so, for Albright, the forum presented an opportunity to mend fences
with both
China and Russia in the aftermath of the NATO bombing campaign against
Yugoslavia.

She held talks with foreign ministers of
both nations on the sidelines of the Asian
conference, and statements issued
afterward by the Chinese and Russian
ministers were generally positive.

But the session happened amid fresh
volatility in Asian stock markets,
suggesting the Asian financial crisis still
had not run its course.

And two new crises captured most of the
attention of participants   new tensions
between China and Taiwan and the prospect that North Korea would soon
launch
another multistage missile capable of achieving orbit.

Even China, North Korea's traditional ally, joined in a resolution
urging
North
Korean restraint.

The foreign ministers of the United States, Japan and South Korea issued
a
joint
appeal Tuesday for North Korea to abandon its missile program.

"Should they go ahead with the test launch, they will suffer serious
negative
consequences," said Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura.

South Korea still wants to push for closer engagement with North Korea
despite
rising tensions between them, South Korean Foreign Minister Hong
Soon-young
said.

"Some argue for disengagement. But it is far more dangerous to leave
North
Korea
alone and let it run its course toward collapse or resort to
adventurism,"
Hong said.

Most participants in the conference, including the United States, took
China's side in
the new dispute with Taiwan over sovereignty claims by Taiwan's
president
for the
island, which China views as a renegade republic.

U.S. officials are hopeful that support for China in the dispute with
Taiwan
will help
mollify some of China's anger over NATO's mistaken bombing of the
Chinese
Embassy in Belgrade.

Albright also used the forum to bring up human rights abuses in
military-ruled
Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"Just as democracy fosters prosperity, so repression in Burma has
generated
economic disaster," Albright told the session, made up of foreign
ministers
from the
Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Canada.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung complained that the forum was being
used to
interfere with others' internal affairs. He did not name anyone.


Albright has been persistent in criticizing Myanmar's human rights
abuses and
participation in drug smuggling.

Albright left the conference early, skipping a wrap-up dinner that
included
humorous skits by participants.

She left early to fly to Rome to prepare for a tour of Kosovo and later
in
the week
join President Clinton at a conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on Balkans
reconstruction.