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Congress Plans Burma Cens



/* Written  2:52 am  Jul  1, 1994 by wov.central@xxxxxxx in igc:soc.cult.burma */
/* ---------- "Congress Plans Burma Cens" ---------- */
Subject : Congress Plans Burma Censure

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress moved Wednesday toward yet another
censure of the military rulers in Burma, as the Clinton
administration decried increased reluctance among other countries
to oppose "one of the world's worst violators of human rights."
   The Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House
subcommittee on Asia both passed resolutions calling for the
immediate release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who
is under house arrest. Congress is expected to adopt the measures
by July 19, the fifth anniversary of the opposition leader's
incarceration by Burma's military rulers.
   But U.S. officials are complaining of a lack of cooperation,
particularly among Burma's Asian neighbors, in efforts to persuade
Burma's rulers to accept the results of a 1990 election which Mrs.
Suu Kyi's party won.
   On Tuesday, the State Department announced U.S. opposition to
Thailand's invitation to Burma to attend the July meeting of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a guest.
   Thomas C. Hubbard, deputy assistant secretary of state, told a
House hearing Wednesday that while it is up to the ASEAN members to
decide who will participate, "we believe it is premature, absent
significant political reform and an improvement in the country's
human rights record, to extend observer status or membership to the
Burmese."
   "Burma remains one of the world's worst violators of human
rights" and the world's top producer of heroin, Hubbard said.
   Burma's rulers have reached political accommodations with most
drug warlords, Hubbard said. He said there is little prospect of
cooperation by Burma's present rulers in quelling narcotics
production.
   He said countries such as Poland, Portugal, Singapore and South
Korea continue to tolerate the sale of military items to Burma, and
China alone has sold an estimated $1 billion worth of arms to the
regime since 1989.
   Efforts to limit general trade with Burma have been even less
successful, he said.
   "The prevailing view among most governments in the region
favors more, not less, trade," he said. Among countries actively
pursuing business interests in Burma are Singapore, Japan, South
Korea, Australia, France and Britain, he said. The largest
investor, however, is still the United States, he acknowledged.


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