Cambodia backs Myanmar over ASEM

Cambodia backs Myanmar over ASEM

CAMBODIA: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen strengthened Southeast Asia's collective stance behind Myanmar on Wednesday, saying he would not join an Asia-Europe forum unless the military-ruled state was also admitted.

The spat between the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over Myanmar threatens to scuttle a biennial Asia-Europe summit meeting (ASEM) scheduled for October in Hanoi.

ASEAN is irked because the EU wants its 10 new members to join en masse while insisting that from ASEAN's three latest entrants Laos and Cambodia are welcome, but not Myanmar.

"Cambodia's position is that if we cannot all join, we do not join," Hun Sen told reporters. "If the EU needs to include its 10 members in ASEM, then ASEAN should include its three new members -- Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- as well."

While the United States and the EU have slapped sanctions on the former Burma over its detention of opposition leader and democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi, ASEAN has been more conciliatory.

Hun Sen said leaving Myanmar out in the cold would help nobody. --Reuters