Myanmar media praises ASEAN

Myanmar media praises ASEAN

YANGON (DPA): Myanmar's government-controlled press ran commentaries yesterday that praised the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for repudiating the United States' recent decision to slap a new economic sanction on the country.

On Tuesday, United States President Bill Clinton approved a ban on all new American investments in Myanmar in response "to a constant and continuing pattern of severe repression by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)", as the Myanmar military junta is called.

Several ASEAN leaders have stated publicly that the U.S. move would have no impact on efforts to admit Myanmar, along with Cambodia and Laos, into their regional grouping, probably sometime this year.

"The hoped-for preemptive strike against our ASEAN entry will fail, for all our good neighbors around here have come up with strong repudiation of the U.S. action," said an editorial commentary, believed to reflect SLORC opinion, which ran in all Myanmar dailies yesterday.