ASEAN must prove value of Myanmar stance

ASEAN must prove value of Myanmar stance

There is little sign of the dust settling within the
international community in the wake of last week's decision to
admit Myanmar to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN).

ASEAN has clearly failed to persuade Western countries to give
"constructive engagement" a chance. The reasoning behind this
policy is that the junta's authoritarianism would be mellowed and
in due course transformed by prosperity.

Some non-ASEAN countries endorsed this approach. Others
derided it. And a few countries waited to see whether Myanmar
would present a convincing case that it was heading toward
democratization of its system.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw told a news conference in
Kuala Lumpur yesterday that Myanmar's perception of democracy is
different from that of the outside world. But that failed to
convince Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy. He announced
yesterday that Canada, in a significant departure from past
policy, will join the United States in imposing sanctions on
Myanmar.

Canada's foreign policy makers have tended in the past to
display caution in areas such as human rights and democracy. They
have been reluctant to impose sanctions on countries which
followed political systems that were not in keeping with their
own values.

But even Canada has now lost patience with the Myanmarese
regime. Canadians are aware that military rule is not unknown
within ASEAN. But they also know that military control in Myanmar
is much more rigid and authoritarian than elsewhere in the
region. It is now up to ASEAN to see that constructive engagement
does indeed produce results, otherwise Myanmar will look like an
odd man out within the regional grouping.

-- The Hong Kong Standard