Malaysia slams ASEAN's critics on B

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Subject: Malaysia slams ASEAN's critics on Burma 


 Malaysia slams ASEAN's critics on Burma 
 03:04 a.m. Jun 06, 1997 Eastern 

 KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 (Reuter) - Malaysia's acting Prime
 Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday slammed critics of the move by
 the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to admit
 Burma for ``playing to the gallery.'' 

 Speaking to an Asia-Pacific Roundtable, Anwar said the critics were
 apparently ``influenced by the oscillating moods of the moment rather
 than a clear-eyed vision of the future.'' 

 ``Criticism of ASEAN for admitting Myanmar into the grouping,
 together with Cambodia and Laos and talks of 'containment' of
 certain Asian countries, for example, demonstrates a predilection to
 playing to the gallery rather than facing the realities of the region,''
 Anwar said. 

 ASEAN -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore,
 Thailand and Vietnam -- last weekend decided to admit its final three
 members at the grouping's annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur on July
 24-25. 

 The United States and the European Union had lobbied heavily
 against the move, citing the poor human rights record of Burma's
 military rulers. 

 Some 240 policymakers, scholars, journalists and corporate figures
 from 24 countries were attending the three-day annual discourse
 organised by Malaysia's Institute of Strategic And International
 Studies (ISIS). 

 A charter drawn up at last year's roundtable stressed the ``three
 pillars of our Pacific Community'' -- peace, prosperity and a
 ``celebration of civilisations,'' Anwar said. 

 ``There should be a celebration of civilisations where we each fortify
 the values and the ways which make us strong and that makes us
 civilised in our own light while partaking of the values and the ways
 of all our Pacific partners,'' he said. 

 ``We in the Pacific must reject and reject most vigorously the thesis
 that civilisations are destined to collide, especially in this part of the
 world.'' ^REUTER@