ASEAN worried about new member Myanmar

ASEAN worried about new member Myanmar

By David Brunnstrom

BANGKOK (Reuters): The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) has come to rue admitting military-ruled Myanmar as a
member 18 months ago.

The 30-year-old regional bloc now finds the behavior of one of
its youngest members jeopardizing its relationship with, and much
needed financial assistance from, its oldest dialogue partner,
the European Union (EU).

Signs are that a key ministerial meeting between the two blocs
scheduled for late next month will have to be postponed since
Europe considers Myanmar's human rights record so bad it will not
accept senior Yangon officials within its borders.

Talks between the two blocs to resolve the stalemate have not
budged either from their respective collective positions.

The nine-member ASEAN insists all of its foreign ministers
must be allowed to attend the Berlin meeting or none at all.

But the signs of frustration and strain are showing.

"There are some people who now ask whether it was a good idea
to accept Myanmar," said an ASEAN diplomat in Bangkok. "But now
it's a fait accompli, it's done, and we have to live with it. But
we have our limits too and sometimes we feel very fed up with
this situation."

The economic crisis that has swept Asia since the last foreign
ministers meeting two years ago means ASEAN needs all the help it
can get.

But Europe, economically resurgent and under pressure from
strong human rights lobbies, is in no mood to let Myanmar off the
hook.

It says easing its visa ban on senior Myanmar officials
requires Yangon to show "substantial progress" on human rights.

The issue has already put paid to a more junior-level meeting,
of the EU-ASEAN Joint Cooperation Committee, that was supposed to
take place in Bangkok last month.

EU and ASEAN diplomats consider the ministerial meetings,
which are supposed to be held every two years, key to the
development of bloc-to-bloc political ties.

But there is also a financial equation. The lack of dialogue
means disbursement of hundreds of millions of dollars of EU
development funding will be indefinitely delayed.

Thailand and Germany have been tasked with negotiating a way
around the dispute, but neither is optimistic.

"Germany has said it will be difficult to convince its EU
colleagues unless there is progress on human rights," said a Thai
Foreign Ministry official. "We are not very optimistic."

While Germany, as the current holder of the revolving EU
presidency, would like to find a compromise, it has to represent
all EU members, not least Britain and the Nordic countries, which
have taken a particularly tough line on Myanmar.

"We wouldn't rule out a compromise, but we have made very
clear our position," said a German diplomat in Bangkok.

"The gilding line in the relationship cannot only be economic.
It has to be human rights as well," he said.

"The ball is now definitely on the Burmese (Myanmar) side and
if ASEAN can't convince them, they have to bear the consequences.
And the consequences are the meeting not taking place."

Myanmar has shown little indication that it plans to alter
radically its attitude to dissent in the weeks ahead.

Last week, it said it had freed "on humanitarian grounds" a
dissident writer it jailed for 20 years in 1993 for distributing
anti-government leaflets.

But diplomats in Yangon say they consider as credible reports
from pro-democracy groups that some 270 activists were sentenced
last month to jail terms ranging from seven to 52 years.

Human rights activists say the number of political prisoners
held in Myanmar could number up to 2,000.

On Monday, Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung left on a four-
nation ASEAN tour that will take in Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore
and Thailand. An ASEAN diplomat said the EU dispute would top the
agenda during his tour.

The Thai Foreign Ministry official said ASEAN was obliged to
ensure all its members were treated equally.

"We understand the EU position because we subscribe to that
way of thinking too, but we have to say we are not very happy
when it links its relationship with ASEAN to developments in a
single country," he said.

Nevertheless, the ASEAN diplomat suggested a compromise might
come in the time-honored form of a "diplomatic illness".

"But it's up to Myanmar to decide whether it will assign
somebody else for the meeting. We will not ask U Win Aung to stay
away and we have no intention of raising it. But if he decides
that himself, then that's different."