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NEWS - Southeast Asian Meeting wit
- Subject: NEWS - Southeast Asian Meeting wit
- From: Rangoonp@xxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 19:55:00
Subject: NEWS - Southeast Asian Meeting with Europe Canceled Over Myanmar
Southeast Asian Meeting with Europe Canceled Over Myanmar
AP
14-MAR-99
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- A meeting between the
European Union and Southeast Asian nations this
month has been canceled over a dispute about
Myanmar, a Philippine official said Sunday.
European nations have said they do not want
Myanmar, also known as Burma, to attend the
meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations because of the military government's poor
human rights record.
Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan was
negotiating with the EU in hopes of reaching a
compromise that would allow the foreign ministers'
meeting to proceed as planned in Berlin, Philippine
Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said.
Asked if the meeting will be held, Siazon said, "As of
today, no, but still talks are going on about the
format."
"What is being requested is to discriminate against
an ASEAN member, which is unthinkable," Siazon
said after meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister
Win Aung, who began a three-day visit to Manila
Sunday.
Myanmar's slow progress in human rights has been
an embarrassment for ASEAN, which admitted the
country in 1997. Myanmar's membership has
tarnished the reputation of the nine-member group
and interfered in ASEAN's relations with other
regions.
Win Aung told reporters Sunday that ASEAN
members should remain tightly united.
"If ASEAN is united, nobody could come and then
make a wedge between us. That is very important,
we should stick together come what may," he said.
Philippine officials said they plan to "express
disappointment" to Win Aung about human rights
conditions in Myanmar.
ASEAN also includes Brunei, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.