Asia-Europe meeting might be canceled over Myanmar

Asia-Europe meeting might be canceled over Myanmar

BANGKOK (Reuters): Disagreement over Myanmar's participation
at a gathering next week between officials of the European Union
(EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) could
force the meeting to be canceled, a senior Thai official said
yesterday.

"It takes two to tango," said Suraphong Jayanama, spokesman
for the Thai ministry of foreign affairs. "Thailand, which acted
as ASEAN's messenger, has already passed on the message to the
EU," he told Reuters.

ASEAN insists there will be no discrimination against any of
its members. The nine-member group said that when the EU demanded
Myanmar be excluded from the meeting it was viewed that the
Europeans meant they did not want the meeting to take place.

The EU has signaled it is against Myanmar's participation at
the meeting because of its human rights record and curbs on
opposition figures.

The EU has suspended all high-level contacts with Myanmar in
protest.

Technical experts of the ASEAN-EU joint cooperation committee
are scheduled to meet in Bangkok from Nov. 17 to Nov. 19 to
discuss cooperation projects between the two groups.

Myanmar in July became a member of ASEAN which also groups
Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia,
Thailand and Vietnam.

Myanmar, which is run by the State Law and Order Restoration
Council, has been widely criticized by the West for human rights
abuses.

"The ASEAN stance is nondiscriminating. So when EU comes in
one bloc, ASEAN won't drop one of its members from the meeting,"
Surapong said.

In Manila, the Philippines backed Myanmar's right to sit at
the ASEAN-EU meeting in Bangkok and said it was up to the EU to
decide if they would attend or not.

"That's up to them...Our (ASEAN's) decision is to go through
with the meeting," Philippine foreign under-secretary and
incoming ASEAN Secretary-General, Rodolfo Severino, told Reuters.

"We feel that nobody should discriminate between ASEAN
countries when it comes to dealing with ASEAN as a whole," he
said.

Severino said ASEAN had not received any word from the EU that
it would not attend the Bangkok meeting.

"You and I know they have problems with Myanmar so this is why
it is necessary (for ASEAN) to take this position," Severino
said.

"The position that the EU seems to be taking...seems to be
very highly political in nature so we just have to take a stand
on it," he said.