ASEAN split over Myanmar issue

ASEAN split over Myanmar issue

Vijay Joshi, Associated Press/Vientiane

Southeast Asian nations were split over whether military-ruled Myanmar should heed U.S. pressure to forgo their bloc's chairmanship, marring their annual security dialogue with Western and Asian partners, diplomats said on Monday.

The conference through Friday among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and 14 Asia-Pacific partners had anti- terrorism efforts on the agenda, and ASEAN nations also prepared an accord on boosting cooperation during disasters such as December's tsunami.

Australia was set to sign a document on its intent to join a regional nonaggression pact to warm ties with neighbors that often have viewed it with mistrust.

The meeting received a blow on Monday when host Laos announced that Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura would not attend. No reason was given.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had announced earlier that she would not attend. ASEAN diplomats read that as a snub over the group's failure to get Myanmar's junta to hand power to a civilian government and free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The U.S. and European Union have threatened to boycott ASEAN meetings if Myanmar takes up the chairmanship of the bloc late next year as scheduled, and many Southeast Asian nations fear that could endanger trade ties with the West.

The bloc's members -- who insist on deciding all issues by consensus -- are divided over Myanmar, with about two-thirds of the members against the military-ruled country taking up the chairmanship, ASEAN spokesman M.C. Abad said.

Another ASEAN diplomat said Cambodia and communist countries Laos and Vietnam are Myanmar's main backers, urging it not to buckle under pressure. He spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid a diplomatic row.

The diplomat said Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win would indicate the junta's stand during an informal dinner with his ASEAN counterparts later on Monday. But Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the issue would not be discussed by ministers until Tuesday.

"There will be a decision," Syed Hamid said. "Any interpretation that ASEAN is going to be divided, and therefore lead to an impasse, I don't think will arise."

ASEAN's mixed signals to Myanmar have complicated efforts to get the country to reform, said UN envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail, who was in Vientiane to meet with Nyan Win.

"It is not as if ASEAN countries have been collectively strong in putting out a clear signal to Myanmar," Razali told The Associated Press. Countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have been "quite forthright, but we have not heard from the others," Razali said.

Criticism from the West tends to have little effect on Myanmar's leaders, who decide matters "in their own time," he said.

Still, there were indications that Myanmar could voluntarily give up the chairmanship, Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said in Bangkok on Monday.

"Myanmar has sent a good signal that it will take into account the importance of ASEAN's interests and will not do anything that will obstruct the development of ASEAN and its relation with other countries," he said.

Meanwhile, Laotian Deputy Foreign Minister Bounkeut Sangsomsak said Japan's absence "will not effect most of the meeting," and should not be seen as a Myanmar-related pressure tactic.

Machimura went to London on Sunday for talks with European leaders on Japan's proposal to expand the UN Security Council and to give Japan and some other countries permanent seats. He was due back in Japan this week, and it wasn't clear why he couldn't attend any of the Laos meetings.

One of the highlights in Vientiane will be Australia's signing of a declaration of intent to join a nonaggression pact with ASEAN. Canberra would then be expected to sign the pact by December, helping its campaign to boost trade ties with Asian neighbors.

The meetings also will discuss terrorism and agreements on sharing intelligence, officials said.