Japan deals blow to Myanmar junta
The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
After Myanmar's success in persuading the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to soften their stance on the fate of Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the impoverished country received a severe blow from Japan, its largest donor.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday bluntly told Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyut to immediately release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and restore democracy in the country.
In a five-minute conversation with the general during a working luncheon between ASEAN leaders and their guests Prime Minister Koizumi, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Koizumi conveyed the message to the general.
"I urge you to erase the concern of the international community. I would like you to create an environment in which Japan can happily work with Myanmar," the Prime Minister's spokesman Jiro Okuyama quoted Koizumi as telling Khin Nyut.
In a conversation with The Jakarta Post, Okuyama said Japan had cut all development assistance immediately after Myanmar junta arrested Suu Kyi on May 30. Japan, said the spokesman, will not resume the financial assistance unless democracy is restored in the country.
"The prime minister is indeed worried about Myanmar's situation," he said.
In their statement on Tuesday ASEAN leaders praised the junta although they failed to receive a concrete answer about Suu Kyi's condition.
During the ceremony to sign the Bali Concord II, it was clear only Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen seemed a little uneasy about the chairman's statement.
Myanmar foreign affairs minister U Win Aung claimed that they had not put pro-democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest or detention saying that the opposition leader was at home.
"She's at home and we do not categorize that as house arrest," the minister said on the sidelines of the meeting.
He said that his government was completely satisfied with the statement expressed by the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), which recognized that the junta will take the process of democratization at its own pace.
"We are satisfied, our prime minister had explained to the leaders about the situation, and it is reflected in the statement. We will be tackling our problems and this is what ASEAN sees," Win Aung said on Tuesday.
He underlined that Myanmar had complex problems that would be resolved in their own time and the junta fully understands that they have to move forward with the democratization process.
The minister said that the government is preparing a national convention in the country to support the reconciliation process in the country.
"All Myanmar's social groups will be included in the coming dialog," he remarked.