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.