Asia hopes for compromise on deadlocked EU meet

Asia hopes for compromise on deadlocked EU meet

Darren Schuettler, Reuters, Bangkok

Asian nations in a diplomatic spat with Europe over military- ruled Myanmar are hoping a compromise will emerge this weekend that will allow an Asian-European summit to go ahead in October.

The dispute over Yangon's proposed membership of the Asia- Europe (ASEM) group will be high on the agenda of European Union foreign ministers meeting on Friday and Saturday in the Netherlands, which holds the revolving EU presidency.

"The indication that we received through the EU presidency was that a compromise had been worked out to resolve the question of enlargement, but we are waiting for confirmation from the meeting," a senior Thai Foreign Ministry official told Reuters.

But in The Hague, a Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman said there was still work to be done to resolve the spat over Myanmar, the former Burma.

"We're pushing the Asian countries to push Burma closer to where we want them. We don't think all our demands are met, but there has been some progress," he said.

The dispute threatens to scuttle the Oct. 8-9 ASEM summit in Hanoi where Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia -- the three newest members of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- were expected to join.

Some European nations, especially Myanmar's former colonial ruler, Britain, are challenging Yangon's presence because of its repression of political opponents, chiefly the house arrest of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

ASEAN insists all three new members must be admitted as a bloc, since 10 new EU states will join the summit.

"From the Asian side, we feel strongly that the three countries should be admitted at the same time. But on participation at the summit, there is flexibility to accommodate the concerns of the EU," the Thai official said.

Diplomats say a face-saving solution could see Myanmar send a more junior representative to the Hanoi meeting, which could be acceptable to the Europeans.

"Myanmar may agree to lower its representation to the summit if the EU continues to stick to its demands. They can give a convenient excuse that the prime minister is occupied with domestic affairs. They have used it before," a Yangon-based Asian diplomat said.

The impasse led the EU to cancel two ministerial-level meetings supposed to prepare for the summit. But diplomats from both sides have quietly worked behind the scenes.

Former Dutch foreign minister Hans van den Broek, who visited several Asian capitals in July, was expected to brief the EU foreign ministers on his efforts this weekend.

Last week, Vietnam dispatched former prime minister Vo Van Kiet to Yangon where he met Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and the junta's top leader, Senior General Than Shwe.

"In his meeting with Vo Van Kiet, the Myanmar prime minister reportedly affirmed that Myanmar would cooperate with Vietnam to make the summit a success," another Yangon-based diplomat said.

Some Myanmar watchers say the trade-offs to joining ASEM, which aims to promote economic and cultural ties between the two regions, may be too much for Yangon's generals.

"For Myanmar's economic survival it's not that important when they have Thailand, China and India," said Tin Maung Maung Than, a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. He referred to three neighboring countries with close economic and political ties to the former Burma.