Singapore, Philippines defend ASEAN

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Singapore, Philippines defend ASEAN expansion 

Singapore, Philippines defend ASEAN expansion 
 05:03 a.m. Jun 10, 1997 Eastern 

 By Uday Khandeparkar 

 MANILA, June 10 (Reuter) - Singapore and the Philippines on
 Tuesday defended a decision by the Association of South East Asian
 Nations (ASEAN) to admit international pariah Burma into their
 club, saying it would make the group stronger. 

 ``There would be a lot of common interest...to make ASEAN an
 important economic bloc and also one with political influence,''
 visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told a news
 conference, dismissing objections by Western governments because
 of human rights abuses in Burma. 

 The group decided 10 days ago to admit Burma, Laos and
 Cambodia into ASEAN. 

 ``We know that the U.S. and Europe are unhappy with Myanmar's
 (Burma's) admission but we have always taken a position that the
 internal situation of a country is that country's concern,'' Goh said on
 the second day of his three-day official visit. 

 He said ASEAN believed it was better to engage Burma in
 constructive dialogue so it could reform by looking at its neighbours. 

 ``We don't believe that sanctions will work. We haven't heard
 anybody come out with a better alternative than constructive
 engagement,'' he said. 

 Goh said ASEAN members held a view that a country's internal
 affairs were its own concerns. 

 ``We know that many people are unhappy with human rights or
 so-called human right abuses in countries within ASEAN. But we
 want to work together and we do things our way.'' 

 Western countries led by the United States had put pressure on the
 group to deny membership to Burma because of its human rights
 record. 

 ASEAN currently comprises Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the
 Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and the new members
 are expected to be formally admitted next month. 

 Philippine President Fidel Ramos, who jointly addressed the news
 conference with Goh, also defended the group's decision to admit
 Burma as a member. 

 ``We look at ASEAN as a family where you have strong, capable,
 economically affluent and at the same time some poor and weak
 members who must be kept together within the family,'' he said. 

 ASEAN had grown into one of the most successful regional
 groupings because of its policy of non-interference in the internal
 affairs of its neighbours. 

 ``We want to uplift everyone regardless of economic or political
 situation. As far as the internal politics within each country, well, we
 did not begin ASEAN by examining that and excluding those that
 had a different system from ours,'' he said. ^REUTER@