Ramos says Vietnam is set to join ASEAN

Ramos says Vietnam is set to join ASEAN

MANILA (Agencies): Vietnam appears set to become the seventh
member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), but
Myanmar is not yet there, Philippine President Fidel Ramos said
yesterday.

"The countries that are about to enter into ASEAN, because
they have been elevated to a higher status ... are the so-called
Indochinese states," he told a news conference.

"It is Vietnam right now which appears to be in the forefront
of all the applicants," he added, while stressing that "there
must be consensus among the six member countries for any new
member to come in."

ASEAN was established by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand in 1967. Brunei was admitted later.

Foreign Undersecretary Rodolfo Severino, asked earlier whether
Hanoi would become a full-pledged member by next year, told
reporters: "Probably. It's possible."

Manila has been the most ardent sponsor of Hanoi's membership
bid.

Commenting on appeals by the exiled Myanmarese opposition for
ASEAN not to lend legitimacy to Yangon's military junta, Ramos
said Myanmar's entry into the regional grouping is "not about to
happen."

Myanmarese opposition leader Sein Win, here as a guest of a
small Philippine opposition party, urged the ASEAN to refrain
from drawing Yangon into the organization, saying the ruling
military junta would just use it to obtain legitimacy.

"The military depends on the UN to help ensure the junta's
legitimacy," the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader said
in an interview published by the Today newspaper here yesterday,
referring to Myanmar's isolation.

"And the junta will use the ASEAN for the same end," warned
the opposition leader, who is making the rounds of ASEAN capitals
to campaign against the organization's policy of "constructive
engagement" toward Yangon.

ASEAN has rejected the West's call to isolate the State Law
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) over its human rights
record.

Thailand has invited Myanmar as guest of the host country at
the forthcoming annual ASEAN ministerial meeting in Bangkok.

Too early

Philippine Foreign Secretary Roberto Romulo said it was too
early to consider the question of Myanmar's membership as the
matter had not yet been raised in the ASEAN, the official
Philippine News Agency reported.

Sein Win said it was difficult to lobby in the region because
"there is Chinese support in terms of the selling of arms, trade,
construction of buildings, and highways."

He said "Burma (Myanmar) is very attractive to surrounding
countries, mainly because of its economic potentials." He singled
out Thailand, which he said was "very much interested in energy"
following the discovery of a gas deposit in Myanmar, and in
logging concessions.

Sein Win, a cousin of jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, fled to a guerrilla zone in southeastern Myanmar several
months after the junta refused to accept the opposition's
election victory in May, 1990.

He and other politicians from Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy who won seats in the polls set up a parallel
government, the National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma.

Meanwhile, Yangon commander Maj. Gen. Myo Nyunt, speaking to a
meeting of army officers, ordered the military to watch closely
the movements of opposition politicians.

Myo Nyunt's warning was broadcast on Myanmar's state-run
television and monitored in Thailand late on Tuesday.

"The political movements are more active these days and many
politicians ... have taken the opportunity to instigate the
people and criticize the government, during traditional fairs,
funerals, or wedding parties," the television cited Myo Nyunt as
saying.