CONTRIBUTOR More of the Same at Asean Meeting

23 July, 2010
By KAY LATT
Source: Irrawaddy

Six years ago before an Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) meeting in Hanoi, Nguyen Dy Nien, then Vietnam's foreign minister, promised that “Asean is trying to democratize Myanmar.” This time in Hanoi, the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) will have yet another look at Burma's newsest problems: the planned elections and its nuclear ambitions.

The 43rd Asean ministerial meeting and other important meetings including the 17th Asean Regional Forum (ARF) between Asean and its strategic partners takes place in Hanoi on July 16-23, The meeting will be historic because the Asean Charter and the Asean Intergovernmental Committee on Human Rights will be approved.

At the16th Asean summit held at Hanoi, the heads of Asean member states promised to speed up cooperation in deepening regional integration and to build a resilient, dynamic and sustained Asean community. The problem of Burma, however, remains as a major impediment.

Kurt Campbell, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, recently said that human rights violations by the Burmese regime will come up during secretary of state Hillary Clinton's bilateral meeting with Asean leaders and those from other Asian countries. He said Clinton will talk about their concerns on a variety of issues, including the upcoming steps leading to the [Burmese] elections later this year.

He said, "We've stated very carefully and clearly on the record that we are primarily concerned in terms of Burmese activities about its violation and its activities associated with UN Security Council Resolution 1874."
Last year, at the Asean Ministerial Meeting and the ARF held on the Thai resort island of Phuket there were no Burma breakthroughs.

At that meeting, Clinton had even suggested the expulsion of the Burmese regime from Asean if it continued to flout Asean's rules. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva as host of the event said in response to that, "There are not enough grounds to do that. We have already done what we can under the Asean mechanism. If Burma is expelled it will further isolate the regime, and would that solve the problems?" He did not mention any alternatives to solve the problems caused by Burma.

Clinton also said, "We know that there are also growing concerns about military cooperation between North Korea and Burma, which we take very seriously. It would be destabilizing for the region. It would pose a direct threat to Burma's neighbors. And it is something, as a treaty ally of Thailand, we are taking very seriously."

All members of Asean are signatories of the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ) of 1995, which bars its members from developing, manufacturing or acquiring or possessing or having control over nuclear weapons. Burma is believed to be trying to develop or possess nuclear weapons, according to a report by former IAEA director Robert Kelly based on documents provided by defectors from the Burmese military.

Regardless of the reports, the claim still lacks credibility in the eyes of Burma’s friends in Asean. In the case of North Korea, it is eager to possess nuclear weapons with a clear intent to target Japan, South Korea and even the US, whereas Burma has no reason to target China, India or mainland Southeast Asian nations such as Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam. Asean friends seem to be smiling with great skepticism at their neighbor, whose technology and capabilities are at the kindergarten stage.

Another key issue to be discussed will be elections. There are also different views within Asean and its partner countries. In the last ARF meeting, Clinton said, “If she [Aung San Suu Kyi] were released, that would open up opportunities, at least for my country, to expand our relationship with Burma, including investments in Burma.” Her words clearly expressed a fundamental shift in US-Burma relations in exchange for the release of Suu Kyi.
In a sideline meeting with Burmese officials, the US delegation surely urged the regime to release her before the elections in order for the elections to be seen as credible.

In the previous ASEM meeting held in Hanoi, ministers from two regional blocs called on the regime to make the elections credible, transparent, democratic, inclusive, and to release all political prisoners. The European Union's common position towards Burma was renewed on April 26.

In the region, Indonesia has issued the most critical statements in regard to the election and the draconian election laws.

Singapore’s foreign ministry released a statement expressing its hope that “it is not too late for all parties to reach a comprise.” Other Asean countries have remained largely silent on Burma’s electoral issue.

The Philippine’s Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo only said that the actions of Burma's government were contrary to the roadmap to democracy that it has pledged to Asean and to the world.

Asean issued its position on Burma’s election in a chairman’s statement at the 16th Asean Summit: “We underscored the importance of national reconciliation in Myanmar and the holding of the general election in a free, fair, and inclusive manner, thus contributing to Myanmar’s stability and development.” It has consistently avoided stronger statements or any talk of censure or other measures.

Ironically, the current Asean meeting will approve the first five-year plan of the Asean intergovernmental committee on human rights. At the Asean Regional Forum a vision statement to 2020 will be approved. We will have to see how such a statement addresses the problem of Burma.

This time around, Burma is again on center stage, but Asean members don't seem to want to acknowledge its presence, and it will again be dealt with in official, well-composed statements with meticulously chosen words designed not to upset its most backward member.