[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
Canada to impose sanctions on Burma
Canada to impose sanctions on Burma
***********************************
(By Hari S. Maniam, Associated Press)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) Canada will join the United States in
imposing economic sanctions on Burma, saying Tuesday it had no luck
encouraging the military regime to make democratic reforms.
Canadian officials made the announcement after meeting with
Burmese Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw, who they said was "unambiguously
unresponsive'' to their concerns.
"We didn't see any willingness to engage,'' Canadian Foreign
Minister Lloyd Axworthy said in an interview with Voice of
America radio. "Therefore, in this case ... a broader level of
international censure, I think, is necessary.''
Canada is considering banning investments and limiting trade to
counter Burma's attempts to encourage foreign investment through
its new status as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, the officials said.
ASEAN Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the
Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Laos and Burma concluded a
series of annual security talks Tuesday with Asian and Western
countries.
At a closing news conference, Ohn Gyaw defended Burma's
record.
"We are proceeding toward democracy,'' he said, adding there were
differences of opinion on "whether that democracy accords with the
outside world's perception or is in accordance with our own
values.''
Stuart Eizenstat, U.S. undersecretary of state, was unconvinced.
"Our view is that Burma's top drug traffickers have become leading
investors in the economy and leading lights in the new political
order,'' he said. This poisoned the atmosphere for foreign
investment and was behind the U.S. ban on all new investment
there, he added. The United States is seeking international
cooperation to isolate Burma economically and politically to pressure
its military government into making democratic reforms. It opposed Burma's
admission to ASEAN.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she wasn't too worried that
officials from some ASEAN nations have spoken out against the U.S. sanctions.
"They might have disagreed with me out of the meeting, but they agreed with me
in the meetings,'' she said in Singapore.
The Southeast Asian nations meet annually with the United States, Russia,
China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, the European Union, New Zealand and
Australia.
(AP, 29 July 1997)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
News and Information Dept.
All Burma Students' Democratic Organisation (ABSDO) [Australia]
Tel/Fax: 61+03+98132613
----------------------------------------------------------------------------