Albright Backs Burma Boycotts

[sbillenness@xxxxxxxx]

   Burma now ASEAN's problem: Albright

   LOS ANGELES, July 23 (AFP) - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
frowned Wednesday on Burma's admission to the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), saying ASEAN now shares its problems.
   In prepared remarks to the Pacific Council and Los Angeles World Affairs
Council, Albright -- on her way to meet ASEAN foreign ministers in the
Malaysian capital -- also vowed to press for democracy in Cambodia.
   "By admitting Burma as a member, ASEAN assumes a greater responsibility,
for Burma's problems now become ASEAN's problems. And the goal of democratic
change and respect for human rights in Burma becomes not only a national but
a regional and global imperative," she said.
   Burmese authorities "are among the most repressive and intrusive on
earth," she said. "It is only right that Burma is subject to international
sanctions and consumer boycotts."
   A coup 2-1/2 weeks ago by Cambodia's second prime minister cast a pall
over what was meant to be a celebration in Kuala Lumpur of ASEAN's 30th
anniversary and delayed Phnom Penh's entry into the regional grouping.
   But ASEAN went ahead Wednesday and admitted Burma and Laos. Washington
has made no secret of its wish to isolate Burma's military rulers, who came
to power in 1988 after crushing nationwide protests.
   In meeting foreign ministers from ASEAN countries and China, Albright
said she would try to keep up world pressure on Cambodian strongman Hun Sen
to respect 1991 peace accords that ended Cambodia's 13-year civil war.
   "There in recent weeks democracy has taken a giant step backwards," she
said.
   avz-sjh/pfm


At 03:29 PM 7/22/97 -0400, you wrote:
>July 22, 1997
>
>Charlene Barshefsky
>U.S. Trade Representative
>Winder Building, Room 201
>600 17th Street, NW
>Washington, DC 20508
>
>Dear Ambassador Barshefsky,
>
>As Members of the U.S. Congress from the State of Massachusetts, we are
>deeply disturbed by the decision by the European Union and Japan to
>formally challenge the Massachusetts Burma selective purchasing law at the
>World Trade Organization (WTO). 
>
>We are wholly supportive of fostering good relations between Europe, Japan
>and the United States. However, we strongly believe that it is highly
>inappropriate for the European Union and Japan to involve themselves in the
>internal affairs of Massachusetts. It is not the place of the European
>Union and Japan to dictate how the Massachusetts legislature and state
>government should spend its own taxpayers' money. The people of
>Massachusetts have long vested the power to levy taxes and spend public
>money with our elected representatives, not European and Japanese
bureaucrats.
>
>We also note that the Massachusetts Burma selective purchasing law is
>strongly supported by the legitimate leader of the Burmese democracy
>movement. Aung San Suu Kyi. The leader of the party that won the 1990
>Burmese elections, Aung San Suu Kyi remarked in a recent interview that
>selective purchasing laws are very effective means of restoring democracy
>in Burma. She also specifically praised the Massachusetts Burma law.
>
>We fear that, by placing European and Japanese corporate interests first,
>the European Union and Japan risk undermining their principled stand
>against the Burmese military junta. In March, the European Commission
>revoked Burma's tariff preferences because of the military junta's
>pervasive use of forced labor. The new British government recently cut its
>support for trade promotion in Burma and has "not ruled out the possibility
>of further measures, including economic sanctions" against the illegal
>military junta. Japan has called for dialogue between the military junta
>and the democracy movement.
>
>Opinion in Europe in particular towards business in Burma is best typified
>by the recent and unanimous resolution on Burma passed by the European
>Parliament. The resolution called on the European Union to enact economic
>sanctions on Burma. Moreover, in its resolution, the European Parliament
>specifically urged the European Commission not to take action against the
>Massachusetts Burma law under the WTO dispute settlement procedures.
>
>We ask the U.S. Trade Representative to weigh the support for the
>Massachusetts Burma law from the peoples of Europe, Japan, Massachusetts
>and, most importantly, Burma itself.  We strongly urge the U.S. Trade
>Representative to oppose the unfair and inappropriate efforts by the
>European Union and Japan to force Massachusetts to amend its Burma law. 
>
>Rep. Barney Frank
>Rep. Edward Markey
>Rep. Joseph Kennedy
>Rep. Matin Meehan
>Rep. John Tierney
>Rep. Richard Neal
>Rep. Joseph Moakley
>Rep. John Olver
>Rep. James McGovern
>-------------------------------
>
>
>
>
Sarah Jackson-Han
================
Asian Affairs Correspondent
Agence France-Presse
1015 15th St., NW Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005
202 414 0682 tel/800 786 9380 ext 682
202 414 0635 fax