Myanmar PM holds talks in Hanoi over ASEM row
Myanmar PM holds talks in Hanoi over ASEM row
Ben Rowse, Agence France-Presse, Hanoi
Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt met with Vietnam's leaders in Hanoi on Monday for talks on resolving a deadlock with the European Union (EU) over his nation's participation in October's Asia-Europe summit.
The Myanmar premier flew into the capital's Noi Bai international airport and was whisked in a motorcade to the Presidential Palace where he was accorded a formal red carpet welcome by Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.
Hanoi-based ambassadors and diplomats from other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also attended the ceremony in a show of solidarity for the military regime's number three leader.
His one-day visit came amid last ditch efforts to find a solution to the stand-off between the 10-member ASEAN bloc and the European Union (EU) over Myanmar's presence at the Oct. 8-9 Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Hanoi.
"As hosts of ASEM, Vietnam is very much at the forefront of trying to get some movement out of Myanmar," said one diplomat.
The two countries, both authoritarian regimes and targets of Western criticism over their human rights records, retain close political links.
The Vietnamese foreign ministry declined to say if the dispute was on the agenda of the talks but a member of the Myanmar delegation, which included Foreign Minister Win Aung, said it would definitely be discussed.
Khin Nyunt refused to answer questions from foreign reporters, but in introductory remarks ahead of a closed door meeting he said the two delegations would "exchange views on matters of mutual interest".
The talks were hosted by Vietnam's Khai and also involved Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien, Public Security Minister Le Hong Anh and a number of other top government officials from the communist nation.
The biennial ASEM summit of heads of state or government has been put at risk as a result of the EU's insistence that Myanmar cannot take part because of its poor human rights record.
The EU, which has put in place tough political sanctions against the military-run state, is demanding the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and the start of democratic reforms.
ASEAN, however, insists that Myanmar and its other new members, Cambodia and Laos, take part unconditionally in the summit in return for the participation of the 10 states that joined the EU in May.
It says that if Myanmar cannot attend, neither can the new EU members.
An ASEM finance ministers' meeting scheduled for last month and a September gathering of the group's economy ministers have already been canceled.
Western diplomats say the release of Suu Kyi, the 58-year-old democracy icon whose party won a landslide 1990 election victory but was never allowed to rule, is the key factor in ensuring ASEM proceeds as planned.
But they also say a possible compromise could involve distinguishing between Myanmar's participation and its admission to the ASEM grouping.
After his meetings in Hanoi, Khin Nyunt flew to Vientiane for talks with the Lao government. On Tuesday he will meet in Phnom Penh with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who last month threatened to boycott the summit unless Myanmar takes part.
Myanmar's junta enjoys a large measure of understanding and tolerance from its fellow ASEAN governments, who strictly observe a much-criticized ban against interference in other member nations' affairs.