U.S. Won't Press ASEAN On Myanmar M

[soewin@xxxxxxx]

Subject: U.S. Won't Press ASEAN On Myanmar Membership

>From The Japan Times; 8 May 1997. (Front Cover)

U.S. WON'T PRESS ASEAN ON MYANMAR MEMBERSHIP

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The United States has no intention of intervening in a
decision by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on whether to admit
Myanmar, as a member, a U.S. administration official said Tuesday. 

"It's up to the ASEAN to decide," the official said, down-playing remarks by
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns last month. 

On April 25, Burns said Myanmar's "human rights performance is so woeful and
so irresponsible that surely it should not be treated as a normal country
and should not be rewarded by membership in one of the most prestigious and
important pan-Asian organizations." 

Burns' remarks were intended to express U.S. concern that Myanmar might be
given "premature" membership in ASEAN, said the official, who asked not to
be named. 

The official, however, said Washington will not withdraw Burns' comments. 

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is scheduled to attend a meeting
of ASEAN with its so-called "dialogue partners" in Kuala Lumpur in July
following a meeting there of ASEAN foreign ministers, at which the admission
of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia is expected to be announced.

The three countries currently have observer status in ASEAN, which groups
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.