SHAMEFUL FOR ASEAN TO EMBRACE BURMA

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

SHAMEFUL FOR ASEAN TO EMBRACE BURMA
1.6.97/THE NATION/EDITORIAL

Asean will never be the same again. By embracing Burma as a
member it has itself become a pariah organisation. Coming as it
does on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the decision yesterday
will have repercussions far beyond whatever Asean leaders may
envisage. It has indeed irreversibly damaged the organisation's
integrity and setback some three decades of achievement.

We firmly believe the applications for membership by Burma, Laos
and Cambodia should be judged on their individual merits and
readiness, just as it has always been in other regional
organisations. But still, these qualifications are secondary to
their peoples' desire for freedom and democracy.

To accept Burma without any conditions is to ignore the
aspirations of the Burmese people, who voted for Aung San Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD} in 1990. Why bless a
regime that is clearly not legitimate? A regime that is willing
to go back on its word.

>From the beginning, the Burmese junta's motive in bidding for
membership of Asean was obvious a regional aegis to prolong its
own repressive rule and to fight against Western pressure for
openness. By exploiting Asean's strengths and weaknesses the
junta leaders have been able to turn the membership issue into an
East-West divide - Asean against the West.

In the two years Burma has sought a closer rapport with Asean it
has never lived up to regional or international norms of conduct
and behaviour. Now, Asean would like us and the world to believe
that as a member of Asean, the Slorc leaders will be more
enlightened, open-minded and less oppressive.

The Asean leaders' decision yesterday was a triumph of evil over
humanity. There is a Thai saying that one rotten fish can spoil
the whole basket of fish.

The biggest disappointment must be those Thai leaders who failed
to play appropriate roles in leading Asean. Partisan politics and
self-interest on the part of various authorities completely
destroyed the unanimity of Thailand's positions and policies.
They will have to bear responsibility for the future of the
Burmese people.

Nonetheless, we welcome the decision to take in Laos and
Cambodia, despite the political uncertainty in Phnom Penh. Laos
has been preparing for this eventuality the longest, knowing full
well their inadequacies. The Laotian and Cambodian peoples are
supportive of their governments' desire to join Asean.


The only tangible benefit of Burma's admission is perhaps the
fulfillment of an Asean dream to encompass all 10 countries, as
outlined in the Bangkok Declaration of 1967. It is doubtful
whether the attainment of an Asean 10 under such circumstances
will add to the influence that Asean has come to expect.

Then again, the decision should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Most Asean leaders have much in common with the State Law and
Order Restoration Council in Rangoon. The decision is very much
in line with their domestic politics - the ostensibly one-party
rule in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore, and the
vote-buying and political patronage which victimises the people
of Thailand.

In the final analysis, it is not the international pressure
against Slorc that really matters. What matters is the burning
desire of the people in all Asean member states to incorporate
democracy and human rights as part of their national development.

These aspirations, like Burma, are being ignored and quashed by
current Asean leaders.

Thus, it is not that Asean has embraced Burma, but that Slorc has
joined a club whose members are very much like themselves. And
with Burma being a member of the regional grouping, we are seeing
a "Slorcisation" of Asean. That, sadly, does not portend well for
the people of the region.