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Reuter: ASEAN Sees No Morality Prob



Subject: Reuter: ASEAN Sees No Morality Problem in Welcoming SLORC

ASEAN Sees No Morality Problem in Welcoming SLORC

    By Raju Gopalakrishnan
     JAKARTA, July 15 (Reuter) - Indonesia said on Monday there were no
objections from any member nations to Burma being granted observer status
in ASEAN and joining the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) security grouping.
     Foreign Minister Ali Alatas told reporters that all seven members of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 19-member ARF
grouping had either explicitly endorsed Burma's participation or not raised
any objections.
     Indonesia hosts the annual ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting later this
week and then the ARF meeting.
     The United States, which will be represented by Secretary of State
Warren Christopher at the ARF meeting, has said it will consult Southeast
Asian nations on how to curb the Burmese military government's suppression
of a pro-democracy movement.
     It has said economic sanctions could be one such move.
     Some diplomats have privately questioned the wisdom of allowing Burma
to join a multilateral organisation like ASEAN when its government is
accused of repression.
     European Union foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels later on Monday,
are also expected to come under pressure to impose sanctions on Burma.
     Alatas said any such proposal in the ASEAN meetings would be rejected.
     "We do realise that the situation in Burma is one which needs some
resolution," Alatas said. "We thought the best way was not to approach it
through the application of economic sanctions or isolating them again or
putting them in a corner publicly.
     "ASEAN prefers to talk quietly about things that are sensitive to
certain countries. That is what we have been trying to do, talk quietly at
the ministerial level, at the lower level. This is what we are going to
continue to do. Other countries may have their own views."
     He said Burmese democracy leader Aung Saan Suu Kyi had written to
ASEAN heads of state asking them to intervene in the stand-off with Burma's
military junta.
     "At this stage, we are not yet in a position to react," Alatas said.
"We have just received it (the letter), it has just been presented to our
president."
     He said Burma's admission as an observer to ASEAN was a precursor to
becoming a full member.
     Laos and Cambodia have formally applied to join ASEAN by 1997, Alatas
said. ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, will decide on the modalities at the
foreign ministers' meeting, he said.
     Also, India, China and Russia will be made dialogue partners of ASEAN,
while India and Burma will formally join ARF, taking the number of members
in the group to 21, he said.
     Current ARF members are the seven ASEAN nations, the United States,
Russia, China, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union,
South Korea, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and Laos.
     Alatas said one issue to be discussed at the ARF meeting would be
China's announcement in May extending its territorial claims in the South
China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan have criticised the move.
     All four countries, and Brunei and Malaysia, have claimed ownership of
the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea which are believed to be rich in
oil and gas. Diplomats have said one of ARF's major successes since its
inception two years ago has been to draw China into a dialogue on the
issue.
  REUTER
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