Myanmar refuses to give up chairmanship<\/p>\n
Jason Gutierrez, Agence France-Presse\/Mactan, Philippines<\/p>\n
Southeast Asian foreign ministers begin their meeting in the
\ncentral Philippines on Sunday with Myanmar playing hardball and
\nrejecting international calls it relinquish ASEAN chairmanship
\nnext year.<\/p>\n
Myanmar foreign minister U Nyan Win said the European Union
\nand the United States had no right to force his country to
\nabandon the alphabetically rotating chairmanship of the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).<\/p>\n
\"That is their attitude, not ours. We can decide ourselves
\nbecause we are an independent country,\" U Nyan Win told reporters
\nlate Saturday as he arrived in the seaside resort island of
\nMactan.<\/p>\n
Asked if he felt his country, with its bleak human rights
\nrecord, had the right to chair ASEAN, he said: \"This is our
\nresponsibility. This is all the ASEAN (members') attitude.\"<\/p>\n
Calls to strip Myanmar of ASEAN chairmanship have gained
\nground in Asian political circles in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Its ASEAN colleagues Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
\nMalaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam have been
\ntreading carefully over the diplomatic puzzle, but the issue has
\nsown seeds of division.<\/p>\n
ASEAN's newer members Cambodia and Vietnam have said they will
\nsupport Myanmar's chairmanship. Laos is likely to back Yangon as
\nwell, while Thailand has said it believes in \"constructive
\nengagement.\"<\/p>\n
The Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia however are pushing
\nfor a timetable to the junta's so-called \"roadmap to democracy\"
\nand have repeatedly appealed for the freedom of detained
\ndemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.<\/p>\n
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, which won elections
\nin 1990, has rejected the junta's democracy roadmap, which the
\nU.S. and the EU have denounced as a sham.<\/p>\n
The foreign ministers are expected to come up with a consensus
\non Myanmar's chairmanship, due in 2006, which analysts warned
\ncould alienate the 10-nation bloc from its western allies.<\/p>\n
If Myanmar took over the rotating helm of ASEAN, it would host
\nthe annual summit of the Southeast Asian leaders and the foreign
\nministers meeting in 2007 as well as a major security forum
\ntraditionally attended by its dialogue partners including the EU
\nand the U.S.<\/p>\n
But both Brussels and Washington, which have imposed tough
\neconomic sanctions on Myanmar, have warned they would boycott
\nASEAN meets if the forum's policies were being steered by a
\ncountry with a questionable track record.<\/p>\n
ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong on Saturday said he
\nbelieved the issue would not fracture the grouping, citing its
\nlong-held tradition of consensus-building and non-interference.<\/p>\n
A Southeast Asian diplomat, formerly stationed in Yangon, said
\nthe military regime was prepared to draw out its stand-off with
\nthe West and would not succumb to pressure from fellow ASEAN
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
\"If they could make the United States kneel, how much more
\nASEAN?\" he asked.<\/p>\n
\"If ASEAN really wants to pressure (Myanmar), they should have
\ndone away with constructive engagement a long time ago,\" he said.<\/p>\n
ASEAN members would likely give Myanmar a light tap on the arm
\nto show that something was being done, but, \"if it was up to me,
\nI'd give them a kick,\" he added.<\/p>",
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