Two sides to cancellation

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

Date: 11 Jul 1997 

The Nation 

Two sides to cancellation 

The Nation, Agencies 

ASEAN'S decision to delay Cambodia's entry into the grouping was applauded by 
human rights watchers, while its planned admission of Burma continued to draw 
heavy criticism. 

In Bangkok, MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, a Democrat MP and a member of the House 
Foreign Affairs Committee, said although the Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations (Asean) had made the right decision to postpone the admission of 
Cambodia, he was disappointed that it would not delay Burma's bid to join. 

''Asean should have committed itself to its earlier decision made during its 
1995 Summit and May 31 meeting in Kuala Lumpur that it would admit the three 
countries simultaneously. So when Cambodia's entry was delayed, the other two 
countries' should also have been," Sukhumbhand said. 

Asean and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United 
States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia, played an active role in 
the formation of the 1991 Paris Peace Accord which was the basis for the 
United Nations-sponsored election in Cambodia in 1993. 

Carolina Hernandez, the head of a Philippines-based think tank of the 
Institute of Strategic and Development Studies, said ''an important 
opportunity has been lost," meaning that Asean could have used the opportunity 
to also delay the admission of Burma and Laos. 

She noted the declaration issued after an Asean summit last year stated that 
all three would be admitted together. 

''The timing of Burma's membership is not very good in the sense that I 
believe it will have serious implications for Asean's capacity to play a 
credible and coherent role in international affairs," Hernandez said. 

Fan Yew Teng, a Malaysian human rights activist, slammed Asean's decision on 
Cambodia, saying it ''confirms the hypocrisy of Asean governments" because 
they continue to push ahead with Burma's admission.