ASEAN snub West's call to keep out Myanmar<\/p>\n
By Nick Cumming-Bruce<\/p>\n
BANGKOK: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
\nleft more determined than deterred by Western disapproval, is
\ngoing ahead with plans to admit Myanmar as a full member in July
\nalong with strife-torn Cambodia and the tiny, landlocked nation
\nof Laos.<\/p>\n
The decision taken by ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in the
\nMalaysian capital Kuala Lumpur rebuffs a letter reportedly sent
\nby U.S. vice-president Al Gore setting out Washington's
\nobjections to Myanmar's early admission.<\/p>\n
The U.S. and European Union have both cautioned ASEAN that its
\nstanding as one of the world's most highly-regarded regional
\ngroupings may be compromised by giving diplomatic comfort to
\nMyanmar at a time when the ruling junta's unrelenting abuse of
\nhuman rights is making it a target for escalating Western action.
\nThe regime's reputation is further tarnished by Myanmar's status
\nas one of the world's biggest heroin suppliers.<\/p>\n
ASEAN leaders also dismissed a video-taped appeal sent by
\nBurmese pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
\nto defer Myanmar's membership until the junta undertook political
\nreform. She warned Myanmar's admission would only make its ruling
\ngenerals \"more obdurate and oppressive than ever\".<\/p>\n
A number of ASEAN countries were uneasy about admitting
\nCambodia at a time when bitter conflict between its co-prime
\nministers is fueling a new surge in political violence that
\nanalysts fear could erupt into open warfare.<\/p>\n
ASEAN's new admissions, raising membership to 10 countries,
\nwill fulfill its original members' long-held desire to turn it
\ninto a geographically comprehensive Southeast Asian bloc in time
\nfor the 30th anniversary of the association's formation.<\/p>\n
The decision to admit Myanmar is a mark of the self-confidence
\nof a group set up at the time of the Vietnam War to prevent
\ntensions and rivalry among Southeast Asia's non-Communist
\ncountries -- Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the
\nPhilippines -- spilling into open conflict.<\/p>\n
Their success later brought in tiny Brunei and paved the way
\nafter the Cold War for the admission of former enemy Vietnam as a
\nfull member last year. It has also seen ASEAN emerge as a hub for
\nfast expanding contacts between East Asia and the West and for
\nattempts to engage China on a range of diplomatic, security and
\neconomic issues.<\/p>\n
In response to Western concerns, ASEAN leaders have emphasized
\nthey do not consider human rights as a criterion for admission of
\nnew members and consider \"constructive engagement\" a more
\nproductive approach than sanctions. Regional analysts say they
\nare in any event more concerned to check the risk of an isolated
\nMyanmar drifting into a Chinese orbit.<\/p>\n
The group's foreign ministers appear to have devoted little
\ntime even to discussing Myanmar in Kuala Lumpur. \"We made the
\ndecision for the good and benefit of ASEAN,\" Malaysian Foreign
\nMinister Abdullah Badawi said. \"We believe that (Myanmar) will be
\nbetter if it is with ASEAN.\"<\/p>\n
Cambodia, where factional conflict is jeopardizing investments
\nby ASEAN businessmen and could hamper its ability to meet
\neconomic conditions of entry, appears to have featured more
\nprominently in their deliberations.<\/p>\n
ASEAN's announcement, however, coincided with another rise in
\ntension over a call by Second Prime Minister Hun Sen for
\nprosecution of those responsible for a major shipment of weaponry
\nto his senior co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh's party
\nFuncinpec.<\/p>\n
ASEAN leaders have proved ineffectual in trying to check the
\nco-prime ministers' mutual antagonism and will be hoping there is
\nno major eruption of violence overshadowing the formal admission
\nof the three new members on July 23.<\/p>\n
-- The Guardian<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-snub-wests-call-to-keep-out-myanmar-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }