ASEAN to meets to admit Vietnam, study prospects for Myanmar

ASEAN to meets to admit Vietnam, study prospects for Myanmar

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): ASEAN is to study "positively" Myanmar's
request to join the grouping during next week's meeting in Brunei
which will see Vietnam admitted as the group's seventh member, a
top diplomat said yesterday.

Malaysia's foreign ministry secretary-general Ahmad Kamil
Jaafar said while ASEAN had set no timetable for Myanmar's entry,
it had a target to have an "ASEAN-10" -- an enlarged 10-nation
group -- also embracing Cambodia and Laos "by the turn of the
century."

"It is to fulfill the aspiration and wishes of our ASEAN
founding fathers," Kamil said in an interview.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) currently
groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore
and Thailand.

"The prospects of an ASEAN 10 are great both in terms of
greater political stability in the region as well as in the
enlarged ASEAN's economic potentials and regional prosperity,"
Kamil said.

Malaysia, for its part, would consider Myanmar's interest in
acceding to its Treaty of Amity and Cooperation positively, said
Kamil, who has participated in ASEAN's annual ministerial
meetings for the past seven years.

"The Treaty provides the mechanism for the conduct of
relations and is meant for the region of Southeast Asia. We
cannot say no to countries in the region which want to subscribe
to it," he said before departing for Brunei at the head of a
Malaysian delegation to the ASEAN senior officials meeting.

The three-day senior officials meeting precedes the annual
conference of ASEAN's foreign ministers.

"It will make nonsense of that treaty if Myanmar is denied
entry," Kamil said, while welcoming the recent release of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying he believed ASEAN's
policy of constructive engagement had been a contributory factor.

"But we should not dictate to Burma (Myanmar) its internal
policies as Malaysia does not want others to dictate what kind of
democracy we should have," Kamil said, in dismissing the
isolation policy preached by the Western powers.

Acceding to the 1976 treaty, which sets a code of conduct for
signatories, is a prerequisite for full membership in ASEAN,
formed in 1967 as a bulwark against communism during the Vietnam
War.

Laos and Vietnam -- which is to be admitted at the forthcoming
meeting as ASEAN's seventh member -- signed the treaty in July
1992, to signal an end to more than a decade of hostility between
Indochina and the ASEAN states.

Cambodia acceded to the treaty on July 2.

"A concept paper on how to enhance security in the region will
be presented at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting," Kamil
said, referring to the security forum that follows the
ministerial meeting.

The forum, scheduled for Aug. 1, will be followed by ASEAN's
meeting with its dialog partners -- Australia, Canada, the
European Union, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United
States.

The 18-member ARF, established last year in Bangkok, groups
ASEAN members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand with major Pacific powers among them
China, Vietnam, Russia, and the United States.

Brunei, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and
Thailand claim all or part of the Spratlys

"We have one common perception: that is not to destabilize the
South China Sea, which is one of the world's busiest sea bases,
not least because our region is the world's fastest growth area.
There is no need to create waves."