ASEAN turns on Myanmar amid Asian power plays<\/p>\n
Jalil Hamid, Reuters\/Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Southeast Asia's premier regional grouping turned on military-
\nruled member state Myanmar on Monday with its clearest call yet
\nfor the junta to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from
\nhouse arrest.<\/p>\n
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
\ndispensing with its usual hands-off approach to its most awkward
\nmember, made the call in a statement from the grouping's current
\nchairman, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.<\/p>\n
"We also called for the release of those placed under
\ndetention," Abdullah said in a written statement after an annual
\nsummit of ASEAN leaders, which included his Myanmar counterpart.<\/p>\n
ASEAN has rapidly lost patience this year with a lack of
\nprogress in Myanmar's "roadmap to democracy", describing the
\nissue as an embarrassment and a distraction. Myanmar is shunned
\nby the West and is seen by Washington as an "outpost of tyranny".<\/p>\n
The grouping pressured the junta at the weekend into accepting
\nan ASEAN envoy to pay a planned visit to Suu Kyi, an
\nextraordinary move by ASEAN's own gentle standards of diplomacy.
\nShe has been under house arrest since 2003.<\/p>\n
ASEAN wants to clear a way through the Myanmar issue so it can
\nfocus on strengthening economic and political ties with the rest
\nof the region -- a task it wants to kick off on Wednesday with
\nthe first East Asian summit in the Malaysian capital.<\/p>\n
"It must not be simple language," Malaysian Foreign Minister
\nSyed Hamid Albar told reporters, explaining that ASEAN had to see
\nreal progress on democracy in Myanmar. "There must be something
\nthat we can see and that we can feel."<\/p>\n
Only hours earlier, the grouping had agreed to draft its first
\ncharter which could enshrine human rights and democracy. It also
\nheard calls from a tandem summit of non-government bodies for a
\nSoutheast Asian human rights commission to be set up.<\/p>\n
While Myanmar met a cold reception inside ASEAN, the focus was
\nalso on external relationships with their powerful neighbors to
\nthe north -- China, Japan and South Korea -- themselves at odds
\nover Japan's treatment of its wartime past.<\/p>\n
The so-called ASEAN+3 will be joined for the first time by
\nIndia, Australia and New Zealand at the East Asia summit.<\/p>\n
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso set the tone for that
\nmeeting last week when he said Tokyo welcomed the newcomers
\nbecause they would lead to an open East Asia community that
\nrespected universal values such as democracy -- a clear swipe at
\nBeijing.<\/p>\n
The birth of an East Asia summit, to be held annually in
\ntandem with the ASEAN summit, has fueled talk that it could
\neventually lead to a pan-Asian free-trade area spanning about
\nhalf the world's population and a fifth of global trade.<\/p>\n
ASEAN made clear on Monday that it did not want the newcomers
\nto share the driving seat on the journey toward an East Asian
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n
"We reiterated our commitment to ensuring that the ASEAN+3
\nprocess would be the main vehicle for the realization of the East
\nAsian community in the future," Abdullah said in his statement.<\/p>\n
Japan and India are viewed as being keen to dilute China's
\ninfluence over the new community, but China is seen as wary of a
\nwider grouping that would include two strong U.S. allies, Japan
\nand Australia, and an emerging economic rival in India.<\/p>\n
The United States was not invited to the Wednesday meeting.
\nChinese Premier Wen Jiabao reassured his neighbors on Monday that
\nChina's rapid economic rise was an opportunity, not a threat, to
\nthe rest of East Asia.<\/p>\n
More stories on Page 3<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-turns-on-myanmar-amid-asian-power-plays-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }