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.