Summary: "Burma needs a government that represents the Burmese people and that provides more freedom to its citizens, MFA Asian Affairs Department Director General Hu Zhengyue told visiting EAP Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas Christensen on December 21. Hu said that China has been "working on" Burma by urging the regime to begin ethnic and political reconciliation, encouraging UN U/SYG Gambari to visit the country, and urging the Burmese regime to become a country that ASEAN could accept as a responsible member. Hu claimed that China had achieved "significant progress" in replacing opium as a key agricultural product in certain areas of Burma. DAS Christensen stressed that Burma,s domestic problems remain a serious threat to regional stability and that the regime continues to eschew reform. Hu asserted that the United States and China share a common goal in a stable Burma and should coordinate our Burma policy." End Summary.