Investment boycott against Myanmar

The Clinton administration may be nearing a decision point on Myanmar, the Southeast Asian nation that has been deformed by a brutal military dictatorship.

President Bill Clinton's top foreign-policy advisers should recommend activating a ban on new American investment in Myanmar. It would be an excellent start for Mr. Clinton's new team, and give Secretary of State Madeleine Albright evidence of the American resolve that will be useful in her visit to China in 10 days.

Banning new investment should not impose a hardship on the American business community. Unocal, which owns part of a gas pipeline that will provide the Myanmarese government with a major source of hard currency, is already the largest American investor in Myanmar and one of few companies increasing its stake. Unocal recently paid the government several million dollars for new rights to explore offshore gas deposits.

Unocal is the shameful exception. Pepsico has just joined a long list of American and European companies pulling out. They are leaving to avoid bad publicity and new laws in Massachusetts and several American cities are barring public contracts with companies that do business in Myanmar.

Mrs. Albright and Bill Richardson, the new UN representative, have both visited Myanmar and met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Their commitment to protecting human rights will seem empty if they and other senior advisers fail to urge Mr. Clinton to take action against Myanmar.

-- The New York Times