Nobel laureates urge democracy, fre (r)

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Nobel laureates urge democracy, freedom for Asia

By Jane Macartney 

LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - Nobel peace laureates Jose Ramos-Horta of East
Timor, Tibet's exiled Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar joined in
calls on Thursday for democracy and freedom in their Asian homelands. 

``Empires do not last forever, regimes are not eternal,'' Ramos-Horta said in
a speech at a reception organised by human rights activists on the eve of the
second Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM) in London. 

``Peoples, yes, they are eternal, they are the makers of history,'' said
Ramos-Horta in his call for freedom not only for his Indonesian-ruled and
disputed East Timor homeland but for other countries in Asia. 

The root problems of the Asian financial crisis that will be the centrepiece
of the summit of European and Asian leaders on Friday and Saturday was the
absence of democracy in some Asian countries, he said. 

Asia's troubles could not be solved by financial bail-outs alone, Ramos-Horta
said, referring to the multi-billion-dollar aid package under negotiation
between the International Monetary Fund and Indonesia and those already agreed
with South Korea and Thailand. 

``If they want to avoid turmoil...if they want to avoid revolution, then they
must address the root causes of the problems and that is lack of freedom, of
democracy and of rule of law,'' he said. 

Ramos-Horta met British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook on Tuesday to express his
concerns. He was jointly awarded the peace prize in 1996 with Carlos Belo, the
Roman Catholic bishop of Dili, for their efforts to achieve a peaceful
solution to the East Timor issue. 

The former Portuguese colony was annexed by Indonesia in 1976 in a move never
accepted by the international community. Ramos-Horta, a leader of the movement
opposing Indonesian rule, lives in exile in Australia. 

Human rights groups accuse Indonesia of systematic abuses in East Timor and
the territory has long been a source of tension in relations between Europe
and Asia. 

In videotaped speeches to the Alternative State Reception, the Dalai Lama and
Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, formerly Burma, added their -- more carefully
worded -- calls for freedom. 

``China is a big country and in future will be an important country,'' Tibet's
god-king said. His speech, in Tibetan, was recorded at his home in exile in
Dharamsala in India where he has lived since he fled China after an abortive
uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. 

``So a free and democratic China is not only advantageous to China but to the
rest of the world as well,'' he said. 

However, the spiritual leader, who was awarded the Nobel prize in 1989 for his
peaceful struggle for Tibetan autonomy under Beijing rule, offered an olive
branch to Beijing and avoided calling for independence for Tibet. 

``It would be useless to isolate China,'' he said. ``China must be brought
into the international circle for this to be achieved.'' 

Tibet has been rocked in the last decade by a string of often violent protests
against Chinese rule, but Beijing and the Dalai Lama have failed to agree on a
forum for talks with China accusing the exiled god-king of campaigning for
Tibetan independence. 

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, also underlined the desire
of her people for democracy. 

In a videotaped speech smuggled out of Yangon, Suu Kyi indicated that the
plight of her people was an international issue. 

``The cause of the people of Burma is the cause of all those who believe in
democracy,'' she said. 

Suu Kyi, who was held under house arrest for six years until her release in
July 1995, won the peace prize in 1991 for her non-violent efforts to bring
about democracy in her homeland. REUTERS