Myanmar signs economic pact with ally China<\/p>\n
RANGOON (Reuter): Myanmar has signed a broad economic and
\ntrade cooperation agreement with its major ally China, official
\nmedia reports said yesterday, a move that comes soon after U.S.
\nsanctions on Rangoon.<\/p>\n
The reports said China's visiting vice minister for foreign
\ntrade and economic cooperation, Li Guo Hua, and Myanmar's
\nnational planning and economic development minister, David Abel,
\nalso agreed on Thursday to form a joint works committee for
\ncooperation.<\/p>\n
No further details were provided.<\/p>\n
\"The significance of this agreement is it was signed soon
\nafter the U.S. decided to impose economic sanctions on Myanmar,\"
\nan analyst said.<\/p>\n
\"It can mean that the Chinese want to show the ruling State
\nLaw and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) that they are
\ndependable in times of isolation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The United States in April announced a ban on all new U.S.
\ninvestments in Myanmar because of alleged human rights abuses by
\nthe country's military rulers and repression of the democracy
\nmovement led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.<\/p>\n
China is one of Myanmar's closest allies and is said to be its
\nbiggest supplier of weapons.<\/p>\n
Bilateral trade between the two countries totaled $500 million
\nin 1995, Chinese embassy sources said.<\/p>\n
The Myanmar-China pact also comes ahead of a widely watched
\nmeeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign
\nministers in Malaysia on Saturday to decide when Myanmar will be
\npermitted to join the regional grouping.<\/p>\n
ASEAN -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
\nSingapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- has already decided to admit
\nMyanmar, Cambodia and Laos as a group this year.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, this year's ASEAN chairman, has pressed for the
\nthree to be inducted at the group's annual ministerial meeting
\nscheduled for July 24-25. Another proposal would admit them at an
\ninformal ASEAN summit in December.<\/p>\n
The United States has asked ASEAN to delay Myanmar's entry
\nbecause of human rights concerns.<\/p>",
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