Back off Myanmar, Asian states tell European Union
Back off Myanmar, Asian states tell European Union
Agencies, Straffan, Ireland
The European Union (EU) and Asia were to wrap up annual talks here on Sunday overshadowed, not for the first time, by serious divisions over the military dictatorship ruling Myanmar.
The Thai government, a key broker overseeing a regional process to advance democracy in its military-ruled neighbor, said the EU should stop making demands on Myanmar.
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said Myanmar deserved credit for making progress, predicting the imminent release from a year's house detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I have reasons to believe that in the not too distant future, she will be (released)," Surakiart told AFP before the final session of the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) here.
"But as far as when, you have to ask the Myanmar government," he added, after UN envoy Razali Ismail on Sunday also forecast the Nobel peace laureate's freedom in the "next several days".
Myanmar's ruling junta allowed the National League for Democracy (NLD) headquarters to re-open on Saturday, in a move seen as heralding the end of Suu Kyi's third stint under house arrest.
Both sides of the ASEM dialog have stressed they want to strengthen cooperation between two regions that amount for much of the world's trade, not least on countering terrorism, North Korea and immigration issues.
But the Myanmar issue has been a persistent thorn in the side of their relations.
The EU and United States refuse to deal with the military junta. Myanmar, along with the two other newest members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- Cambodia and Laos -- is not yet part of the ASEM dialog.
The rest of ASEAN insists that their attendance at the next ASEM summit in Hanoi in October is a pre-condition if the EU wants to bring along 10 new members who are due to join the European bloc on May 1.
That demand has been rejected out of hand by Europe, which at the talks here on Saturday presented a list of demands for Myanmar's participation in the ASEM process, headed by the immediate release of Suu Kyi.
"There should not be demands. There should be a good understanding," Surakiart responded.
"Myanmar has come forward in implementing their road maps," he said, citing the planned holding of a national convention next month.
"We have to give them support so that the democratization process can continue uninterrupted."
Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen said the EU welcomed signs of progress in Myanmar including the planned convention, which forms the first step in a seven-point "road map to democracy" outlined by the junta.
"We welcome the efforts that are being made, including the initiative by my colleague from Thailand and indeed other colleagues here, who are working to ensure that we try and see political developments in Myanmar which will be consistent with the developing political progress," he said.
"We will continue those discussions."
The EU has also been pressing China to use its influence on the junta to press for change.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told reporters: "There is now progress in Myanmar's national reconciliation process, and I believe all sides should encourage the process.
"We also believe a decision on Myanmar's admission (to ASEM) should be resolved at an early date," he added.
There is a growing sentiment in Europe, however, that disagreements over Myanmar must not be allowed to destroy the valuable and long-standing ASEM process.
ASEM enlargement is expected to be a key issue at the forum's summit in Hanoi in October.
Despite the focus on Myanmar, Cowen underlined the need to boost political and economic links between the two regions.
"We are increasingly interconnected, interdependent and international," Cowen told ASEM ministers.
"We should work together to harness our new energy, to measure up the challenges with which we are confronted and to expand our mutual opportunities," he added.
Cowen also urged greater Asia-Europe cooperation within the United Nations.
ASEM was launched in Bangkok in 1996 to boost EU ties with leading Asian countries. Its Asian members include China, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.