For its own sake, Asean should admi

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Subject: For its own sake, Asean should admit Myanmar ,says Pro-SLORC Lee Kim Chew  Straits Times 21/3

  


              EYE ON THE WORLD
              By Lee Kim Chew

              HOPES are high in Yangon that Myanmar will join Asean when the
grouping's foreign
              ministers meet at their annual conference in July. 

              While no definite pronouncement has been made just yet, the
talk among diplomats is that
              Asean will welcome aboard Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar as new
members on its 30th
              anniversary. 

              This will turn into reality the vision of its founding fathers
-- to bring all 10 Southeast Asian
              countries under a single roof. 

              Myanmar's Minister for Planning and Economic Development,
Brigadier-General David
              Abel, told The Straits Times: "We are ready for Asean
membership. We have done quite a
              lot to meet the requirements. We are prepared. There's no grey
area left." 

              Myanmar's objective was to strengthen the organisation and
enhance regional peace, he
              pledged, and Yangon was not seeking Asean membership to
protect it from Western
              criticism of its domestic politics. 

              He said: "Myanmar's attitude has never been to take refuge by
joining any organisation or
              alliance with anybody. 

              "If we want a bigger shield, we would go to China. We are very
good friends with China.
              But we've kept our neutrality very sacredly." 

              While this is the perception of Yangon's military rulers, the
fact is that Asean's decision to
              accept Myanmar's membership at this juncture has drawn some
criticism from the
              European Union and the United States. 

              This raises the question: when is a good time to bring Myanmar
aboard? 

              If the status quo holds, meaning there is no violence and
bloodshed in Myanmar despite the
              political stalemate, the sooner the better. 

              Consider these factors. 

              Asean membership is a logical outcome of constructive
engagement with Yangon. 

              This long-standing policy holds more promise for inducing
positive change in Myanmar than
              the Western preference to penalise and isolate the generals. 

              Asean has made it clear that the internal politics of a
country is not a criterion for
              membership. 

              Why shut the door on a neighbouring country which wants to
re-enter the regional
              mainstream after nearly three decades of self-imposed isolation? 

              Some analysts see a further reason for expediting Myanmar's
entry. 

              Asean membership, they argue, will deepen its economic and
political ties with South-east
              Asian countries and thereby reduce its dependence on China,
currently its main supplier of
              arms and aid. 

              There is no certainty that Myanmar's military rulers will
moderate their iron-fisted policies
              towards political opponents at home when they join the Asean
fraternity. 

              To be sure, the regime's blotched human-rights record and its
refusal to transfer power to a
              civilian government after the 1990 general election will
continue to come under the spotlight,
              in or out of Asean. 

              Myanmar, ultimately, is responsible for its own policies. 

              Western countries, whether they wish to deal with Myanmar or
not, will have to learn that
              Asean members hold non-interference in each other's internal
affairs as a cardinal principle. 

              A senior American diplomat said Washington was not happy with
Asean's decision to admit
              Myanmar now. So, too, the regime's opponents in Myanmar. 

              "Asean membership will legitimise a military government that
does not represent the people.
              This is no good," a Myanmar critic said. 

              This is a valid point, but his sentiments are not shared by
those who see membership as an
              opportunity to do more business with the country. 

              For them, Asean membership is a means to open up Myanmar's
markets when it becomes a
              part of the Asean Free Trade Area. 

              "We pray that this will happen soon," a businessman said. 

              Unless there is another bloody crackdown on the regime's
political opponents, his prayer is
              likely to be answered soon. 

              Which may put Asean at odds in its future dealings with the West. 

              There is no doubt that Myanmar will play on Asean solidarity. 

              Said Brig-Gen Abel: "If Western countries don't want to deal
with Myanmar as a member of
              Asean for some reasons, that's something aimed directly
against Asean. 

              "After Myanmar, who will be next? 

              "So we cannot dance to the Western tune. It is a group as a
whole, all or none. I think that
              is quite clear." 

              Come what may, Asean alone decides whom it wants as members.
To delay its membership
              could be misread as Asean countries caving in to Western
pressure to isolate Myanmar. 

              For Asean, this is hardly desirable when it expects to deal
from a position of strength as an
              enlarged grouping.