Myanmar says it won't be pressured on ASEAN<\/p>\n
Achmad Sukarsono, Reuters\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Myanmar, under renewed pressure over its human rights record,
\nsaid on Thursday it would not discuss democratic reforms at a
\nmeeting of Asian and African leaders in Indonesia that the
\njunta's top general is attending.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Nyan Win said the military-ruled Southeast
\nAsian nation would also not be pressured on whether it would take
\nthe leadership of the region's main political grouping next year.<\/p>\n
"We've come to discuss about the Afro-Asia commemorative
\nsummit. No need to discuss about the internal situation," he told
\nreporters after meeting Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda.<\/p>\n
Myanmar has faced growing pressure to give up its turn at
\nchairing the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
\n(ASEAN) in 2006, after others in the grouping said they were
\nincreasingly frustrated by Yangon's slow pace of democratic
\nreform and its treatment of political prisoners.<\/p>\n
"This is our own decision," Nyan Win said in response to
\nquestions on the issue from reporters.<\/p>\n
ASEAN foreign ministers sidestepped the issue at a gathering
\nin the Philippines this month by postponing a decision on whether
\nMyanmar should chair the group.<\/p>\n
But Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon, who also met
\nHassan on Thursday, said ASEAN had been working hard to convey
\nthe concerns of the world to Yangon.<\/p>\n
"They have emphasized that they feel very strongly that ASEAN
\nunity comes first. They will not be an obstacle to ASEAN unity. I
\nam convinced the chairmanship situation will be resolved in a
\nvery good way," he told reporters.<\/p>\n
The United States and Europe have threatened not to attend any
\nASEAN meetings hosted by Myanmar. Washington has also said it
\nmight withhold funding to several development projects in the
\nregion, particularly in poorer Southeast Asian nations.<\/p>\n
Europe and the United States have shunned Myanmar and slapped
\nsanctions on Yangon since the military government's latest
\ndetention of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in May 2003.<\/p>\n
Myanmar's hardline leader, Senior General Than Shwe, is due to
\narrive in Jakarta on Thursday for the inter-regional summit.<\/p>\n
Analysts and diplomats in Yangon say Than Shwe is expected to
\nseek bilateral meetings with ASEAN counterparts on the sidelines
\nof the summit to discuss the issue of the chairmanship.<\/p>\n
The grouping's rotating chairmanship is based on alphabetical
\norder. Laos currently chairs the group.<\/p>\n
Singapore and several other ASEAN members have shown signs of
\nimpatience with Yangon's slow reform progress, in a rare breach
\nof the group's long-held principle of non-interference in
\nmembers' internal affairs.<\/p>\n
Yangon has promised to bring the country back to democracy
\nthrough a seven-stage roadmap laid out in 2003 by then prime
\nminister Khin Nyunt, who was purged last October.<\/p>\n
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
\nMyanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/myanmar-says-it-wont-be-pressured-on-asean-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}