Burmese PM: Electoral Law Coming Very Soon
Civil-society leaders slam Asean govts over snub
Myanmar Won’t Allow Thailand’s Foe To Use Its Soil, Says PM
Asia looks to ‘lead the world’ with EU-style bloc
Asian rights body draws flak
Burma generals signal flexibility on Suu Kyi
Asian nations look to ‘lead world’
Burma, North Korea feature at Asian summit
Getting the Facts First
No Decision on Dialogue with Burma: US
U.S. Engagement With Myanmar Set For Next Week: Campbell
China makes six-point proposal for cooperation with ASEAN
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Burmese PM: Electoral Law Coming Very Soon
By WAI MOE       Saturday, October 24, 2009

CHA-AM, Thailand — Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein told his Thai counterpart yesterday that his country’s ruling military junta would soon announce an electoral law for next year’s planned election.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, speaking after a meeting with Thein Sein on the sidelines of the 15th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) in the Thai resort town of Cha-am, said that the two had discussed the election and Burma’s national reconciliation process, among other topics.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (right) shakes hands with his Burmese counterpart Gen Thein Sein during the 15th Asean Summit in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin. (Photo: Reuters)
“Gen Thein Sein said the electoral law will be announced very soon,” said Abhisit, adding that the Burmese prime minister provided no further details.

Thein Sein also told Abhisit that Burma would not allow anyone to use the country to attack neighboring Thailand, according the Thai News Agency.

Burma “upheld the principle of living in harmony and … would not allow anyone opposing Thailand [to use Burma] in attacking this country,” the agency reported Thein Sein as saying.

Thein Sein’s comment came soon after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said that his country would not extradite Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Thai prime minister who was ousted in a coup in 2006, if requested to do so by Thailand.

Hun Sen also compared Thaksin to detained Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, suggesting that the billionaire businessman who went on to become Thailand’s most powerful politician was also a victim of political persecution.

The subject of Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in prison or under house arrest, also came up in Abhisit’s talks with Thein Sein. Abhisit said he wanted to meet with Suu Kyi when he visits Burma.

Although no dates have been confirmed for next year’s election, both Thein Sein and Foreign Minister ex-Maj-Gen Nyan Win said at the Asean summit that the electoral law would be announced soon.

However, observers noted that Burmese officials have often made similar comments during meetings with foreign officials since the regime declared in February 2008 that the election would be held in 2010.

Diplomats said that fellow Asean members have repeated their offers of assistance with the 2010 election at various meetings held over the past few days, but so far, the junta has remained tightlipped about whether it will allow international involvement in the nationwide vote.

On Thursday, Nyan Win assured his Asean counterparts that the coming election would meet the standards demanded by the international community.

“The Myanmar [Burmese] government says the election next year will be inclusive, free and fair,” said Thailand’s foreign minister, Kasit Piromya, at a press conference.

Others, however, expressed skepticism, saying that the regime has made such promises in the past without ever honoring them.

Kraisak Choonhavan, the president of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar [Burma] Caucus, said the junta has often offered assurances that it would respect democratic principles, but has repeatedly refused to allow its opponents to participate freely in the political process.

On Friday, representatives of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly called on the international community to unite to deal with Burma more effectively.

“We have to have a common policy for Burma,” said Kraisak, adding that the policy should fall somewhere between that of the US and the EU on the one hand and Asian countries on the other.

Also on Friday, civic activists were shocked to learn that the Burmese regime had handpicked two former police officers, Win Myaing and Sitt Aung, to attend the Informal Meeting with Representatives from Asean’s Civil Society, after refusing to allow Khin Ohmar, a prominent exiled activist, to attend.

They also expressed surprise at the junta’s choice of Kyaw Tint Swe, a former military official and Burmese representative to the UN, as the Burmese human rights commissioner.

“Burmese civil society and human rights under the Asean Charter will be ‘improved’ by human rights oppressors,” said Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network (Altsean), noting that Burmese security forces are the country’s worst perpetrators of human rights violations.
Asean has moved to approve the Asean Human Rights Body by forming the Asean Human Rights Commission during the 15th Summit. However, analysts say that the new rights body will be powerless to promote and protect human rights in countries in the region such as Burma.

“Asean’s Human Rights Commission is a great idea but is essentially of little practical benefit to the Burmese suffering from systematic abuses of their human rights because it is a toothless body with no enforcement mechanisms and no ability to levy penalties,” said Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian Studies at Temple University’s Japan campus.
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 17058
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Civil-society leaders slam Asean govts over snub
By Kittipong Thavevong
The Nation
Published on October 24, 2009

They accused the governments of poor treatment and disrespect by rejecting five of their 10 representatives from an informal meeting with the leaders and “gagging” five others who were allowed to attend.

Three of those allowed to attend – Sawart Pramoonsilp from Thailand, Yuyun Wahyuningrum from Indonesia and Moon Hui Tah from Malaysia – walked out of the “interface” meeting in protest to show solidarity with their colleagues from Burma, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and Singapore who could not attend.

“We feel strongly that the rejection of our democratically selected representatives is a rejection of both civil society and the democratic process,” the group said in a statement released yesterday.

The activists were informed by the Foreign Ministry shortly before midnight on Thursday that the five would not be allowed at the meeting, according to the statement. Those who could attend were told to be ready to be picked up at 7am yesterday, nearly five hours before the scheduled meeting around noon.

The civil-society groups said the latest move by certain governments of Asean was “fundamentally undermining the spirit and content” of the Asean Charter that was approved and became effective since last December. The charter promotes the idea of a people-centred Asean.

“We are deeply disappointed at the irresponsibility and apparent irrationality of the governments’ position,” the statement said. “We plead with these leaders to stop trying to kill the spirit of an Asean community. Such moves not only hurt the development of the region but also the credibility of individual member states and Asean as a whole.” Yesterday’s informal meeting, lasting about 30 minutes, went ahead as planned around noon at the Dusit Thani Hua Hin Hotel in Phetchaburi’ s Cha-am district. Government leaders met with civil-society representatives from Singapore, Burma, Brunei and Vietnam. Singapore and Burma selected substitutes for the activists from the Asean people’s forum who were rejected. http://www.nationmu ltimedia. com/home/ 2009/10/24/ politics/ Civil-society- leaders-slam- Asean-govts- over-snub- 30115126. html
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October 24, 2009 16:00 PM
Myanmar Won’t Allow Thailand’s Foe To Use Its Soil, Says PM

HUA HIN, Oct 24 (Bernama) — Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein has assured his Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva that his country would not allow anyone opposing Thailand to use its soil as a springboard to attack the kingdom, according to the Thai News Agency (TNA).

Thein Sein, who is now attending the 15th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit being held in the Thai resorts of Hua Hin and Cha-am, reportedly told Abhisit on the sidelines of the summit Friday, that Myanmar upheld the principle of living in harmony and that it would not allow anyone opposing Thailand wishing to use his country as springboard in attacking this country.

Expressing his confidence that Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, could sail through obstacles and negative challenges, Thein Sein told Abhisit that both Myanmar and Thailand share a long border and both countries have to depend with each other and good neighbourliness is, therefore, significant.

Thein Sein’s remarks were made after Abhisit and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen traded words after the Khmer leader reasserted Friday on arriving for the ASEAN summit that his government would reject any Thai request to extradite former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra if the self-exiled ex-premier accepts an invitation for refuge in Cambodia.

Hun Sen told journalists to read the extradition treaty thoroughly to understand why the former Thai premier, whom he described as his friend, can stay in Cambodia as a guest of the Cambodian government.

Ousted in a bloodless coup in September 2006, Thaksin jumped bail and fled sentencing to a two-year jail term for malfeasance in the controversial Bangkok’s Ratchadapisek land purchase case.

The toppled Thai premier now spends most of his time in the United Arab Emirates after his status as a visitor was rejected by a number of countries including both the United Kingdom and Germany.

Thanking Myanmar for its support given to Thailand as chairman of ASEAN, Abhisit told Thein Sein that his government supports Japan’s financial assistance bestowed to Myanmar on various projects, including developing hospitals and schools.

Abhisit said his government, as a close neighbour to Myanmar and host of ASEAN, had told every country to strengthen ties with Myanmar and had requested the Myanmar government leader to “unofficially report” on progress on development projects in his country during the ASEAN summit on Saturday.

Wishing Myanmar to successfully hold its general election next year, Abhisit also told Thein Sein that he hopes to officially visit Myanmar when he has the opportunity and to also meet Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to boost democracy for the world community.

The leaders of ASEAN’s 10 member countries–Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam– are holding their three-day summit in the Thai resorts with their six dialogue partners–China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand.

The summit ends Sunday.

– BERNAMA http://www.bernama. com/bernama/ v5/newsworld. php?id=449408
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Asia looks to ‘lead the world’ with EU-style bloc
Posted: 24 October 2009 1814 hrs

HUA HIN, Thailand : Asian leaders discussed plans at a summit on Saturday to “lead the world” by forming an EU-style community, as regional giants China and India tried to cool a simmering border spat.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pressed his regional counterparts to move towards the creation of an East Asian bloc and to take advantage of the region’s more rapid recovery from the global recession compared to the West.

“It would be meaningful for us to have the aspiration that East Asia is going to lead the world,” Hatoyama, who outlined proposals for the bloc after taking office last month, told the Bangkok Post newspaper.

The community would involve the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with regional partners China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, Japanese officials have said.

But as the Japanese premier outlined his proposals, there was debate at the summit in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin over whether the grouping would also include the United States.

Hatoyama said Tokyo’s alliance with Washington was the “cornerstone” of Japanese policy but urged the region to “try to reduce as much as possible the gaps, the disparities that exist amongst the Asian countries”.

East Asian nations would carry out a feasibility study for a huge free trade zone covering ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea and also for a larger, looser grouping also involving India, Australia and New Zealand, officials said.

ASEAN leaders have been discussing plans to create their own political and economic community for Southeast Asia by 2015. They also launched the region’s first ever human rights watchdog on Friday.

Increased integration has been a recurring theme of the meetings in Thailand, but rows over borders and human rights have dogged the summit.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao agreed with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh during talks on the sidelines of the summit on Saturday to work towards narrowing differences on a long-simmering border dispute, Chinese state media reported.

Beijing has voiced its opposition to a recent visit by Singh to Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian border state at the core of the dispute, and to a planned visit there next month by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

India and China clashed in 1962 in the area.

“The two sides agreed to continue talks, with the aim of incrementally removing the barriers to a solution that was fair and acceptable to both sides,” the official Xinhua news agency said.

Indian officials would not confirm an agreement, but the country’s external affairs ministry website said Singh “stressed that neither side should let our differences act as impediment to the growth of functional cooperation”.

Host nation Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia however remained at loggerheads over the fate of fugitive former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, after Cambodian premier Hun Sen offered him a job as his economic adviser.

Meanwhile, ASEAN leaders in a statement on Saturday urged military-ruled member state Myanmar to hold free and fair elections in 2010 but made no mention of detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The group has faced international criticism in the past for failing to press Myanmar’s junta to free Suu Kyi. The Nobel Peace Prize winner was sentenced to a further 18 months under house arrest in August.

The statement also said that communist North Korea should “comply fully with its obligations” under UN Security Council resolutions on its nuclear programme and urged it to return to multi-nation disarmament talks.

Around 18,000 troops and dozens of armoured vehicles have been deployed in Hua Hin after the Asian summit was twice postponed by anti-government protests, with another 18,000 on standby or on duty in Bangkok. – AFP/ms

http://www.channeln ewsasia.com/ stories/afp_ asiapacific/ view/1013483/ 1/.html
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Asian rights body draws flak
BEN DOHERTY HUA HIN, THAILAND
October 25, 2009

A NEW human rights body for Asia that counts Burma’s repressive military dictatorship as a member, and has no power to sanction nations that abuse human rights, has been condemned as worthless by critics.

Unveiled to great fanfare this weekend at the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Thailand, the Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights is already under fire for its membership and mandate.

Burma, regarded as one of the world’s most brutal regimes, is a commission member, but the body has no power to investigate governments, nor pull states into line for continued abuses.

Instead, it has a mandate to ”promote” rather than protect rights. South-East Asia’s record on human rights remains flawed.

Burma’s military junta holds more than 2000 political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi who has spent 14 years under house arrest. Cambodia, under Prime Minister Hun Sen, last week banned demonstrations of more than 200 people. Malaysia’s Government continues to detain without trial people it deems a threat to security.

Debbie Stothard, co-ordinator for civil rights group Altsean Burma, said the commission had been stacked by secretive governments, and ”had not been set up to be effective and impartial”.

The UN said establishing a commission alone would not improve rights abuses.

The commission ”will have to work hard to establish itself as a credible regional mechanism and help close the gap between human rights rhetoric and the reality on the ground,” said Homayoun Alizadeh, regional representative for the UN human rights commission.

The commission membership has largely been appointed by governments, with no consultation with civil society groups.

”This confirms our worst fears, because an intergovernmental body has always been second best, but an intergovernmental body that won’t even talk to its own citizens is a joke, and worthless,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

Defenders of the commission say the body can be strengthened over time. They also point out the difficulty of setting human rights benchmarks in a disparate grouping of nations that includes democracies like Indonesia, communist regimes such as Vietnam and Laos, an absolute monarchy in Brunei, and Burma’s dictatorship.

ASEAN would review the commission’s terms of reference every five years to ”further develop and strengthen the mandate and function of the body”, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

The human rights debate and the late attendance of several key leaders have cast a shadow over the weekend’s ASEAN summit.

On the opening day, Burma, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines refused to meet with civil rights organisations anxious to raise human rights issues. And four of 10 leaders missed the start of the summit.

ASEAN concluded overnight but is abutted by the East Asia Summit, which involves ASEAN members plus Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who was due to arrive in Hua Hin last night, was expected to again push his proposal for an Asia-Pacific community at the meeting.

He will also have talks with leaders from China, Indonesia and Thailand.

Mr Rudd is expected to again discuss the issue of asylum seekers and a free trade agreement with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, but no formal announcement is expected.
http://www.theage. com.au/world/ asian-rights- body-draws- flak-20091024- he27.html
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Burma generals signal flexibility on Suu Kyi

By Kevin Brown and Tim Johnston in Hua Hin, Thailand

Published: October 24 2009 13:48 | Last updated: October 24 2009 13:48

There are signs that the beleaguered government in Burma is warming to new approaches from western governments, with Asian diplomats reporting that the generals are willing to consider releasing Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader who marks 14 years under house arrest on Sunday.

Kazuo Kodama, the official spokesman for Yukio Hatoyama, the Japanese prime minister, said Thein Sein, the Burmese prime minister, had told an Asian summit being held in Thailand that restrictions on Ms Suu Kyi may be relaxed.

“She is under house arrest and the prime minister [said] if she continues to take a good attitude then it is possible that there will be a relaxation of the measures on her,” said Mr Kodama.

Ms Suu Kyi has hinted that she might be willing to lend her moral support to the general’s efforts to have western sanctions lifted, a political gambit which won her a rare visit with western diplomats earlier this month.

Mr Kodama also said that the Burmese authorities had said that next year’s controversial elections had to be inclusive while ensuring the maintenance of law and order.

”The Myanmar [Burma] government would like to ensure that all stakeholders will take part in such a process,” he said.

Ms Suu Kyi was sentenced to a further 18 months under house arrest in August after John Yettaw, an American tourist, swam across the lake behind her house, breaching the terms of a previous period of arrest.

The sentence was greeted with outrage in western capitals, where the generals who run Burma were accused of using Mr Yettaw’s uninvited visit to keep their most formidable opponent out of circulation until next year’s vote.

Mr Kodama said the Burmese leader told the heads of government of the other nine members of the Association of South East Asian Nations plus Japan, China and South Korea that both the US and Ms Suu Kyi had recently softened their attitude toward the regime.

The unprecedented hints at flexibility from the generals come on the heels of a major overhaul of western policy.

After years of trying to isolate the regime in an attempt to force them to make democratic reforms, in the past few weeks both the United States and the European Union have said they are willing to talk to the generals.

However, both have said it is too early to ease sanctions without a clear signal from the Burmese that they are willing accommodate some of the concerns of the western world.

The release of Ms Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Laureate in 1995, has been top of the list of their demands, along with guarantees that next year’s elections will be free and fair.

However, critics say the constitution the generals pushed through last year, which guarantees the military 25 per cent of the seats in the new parliament and all but ensures that the president has to come from an army background, makes that impossible.

Senior General Than Shwe, who has run the country since 1992, has said the elections are part of a seven-step plan to create ”discipline-flourish ing democracy” in the country.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. http://www.ft. com/cms/s/ 0/6f404f1a- c09b-11de- 8f4a-00144feab49 a.html
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Asian nations look to ‘lead world’
AFP
by Danny Kemp Danny Kemp – Sat Oct 24, 6:29 am ET

HUA HIN, Thailand (AFP) – Asian leaders discussed plans at a major summit Saturday to “lead the world” by forming an EU-style community, while urging action from pariah states North Korea and Myanmar.

The premiers of regional giants China and India also sought to foster unity on the sidelines of the regional summit in Thailand after months of trading barbs over long-standing territorial issues.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s proposal for an East Asian community that could take a leading role in global efforts to recover from the economic crisis took centre stage on Saturday.

“It would be meaningful for us to have the aspiration that East Asia is going to lead the world and with the various countries with different regimes cooperating with each other towards that perspective,” Hatoyama, who took office last month, told the Bangkok Post newspaper.

The community would involve the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with regional partners China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, Japanese officials have said.

But there was debate at the summit in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin over whether it would also include the United States.

Hatoyama said Tokyo’s alliance with Washington was the “cornerstone” of Japanese policy but said the region should “try to reduce as much as possible the gaps, the disparities that exist amongst the Asian countries”.

China would “doubtless” grow further, particularly economically, “but I do not necessarily regard that as a threat,” Hatoyama said.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva welcomed the proposal.

“We’re very interested to hear from the prime minister his vision concerning the East Asia community, partly because I don’t think anybody would see differently in terms of the need for greater integration,” he told reporters late Friday.

“The trend is there and I think the political will is also there, the issue is more about the… steps by which that could be achieved.”

East Asian nations would carry out a feasibility study for a huge free trade zone covering ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea and a larger group also involving India, Australia and New Zealand, officials said.

Increased integration has been a recurring theme of the meetings in Thailand, as the rapidly changing region seeks to capitalise on the fact that it has recovered more quickly from the recession than the West.

ASEAN leaders have been discussing plans to create their own political and economic community by 2015. They also launched the region’s first ever human rights watchdog on Friday.

Leaders of the Southeast Asian bloc in a statement on Saturday urged military-ruled Myanmar to hold free and fair elections in 2010 but made no mention of detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The group has faced international criticism in the past for failing to press Myanmar’s junta to free Suu Kyi. The Nobel Peace Prize winner was sentenced to a further 18 months under house arrest in August.

The statement also said that communist North Korea should “comply fully with its obligations” under UN Security Council resolutions on its nuclear programme and urged it to return to multi-nation disarmament talks.

Despite the region’s calls for unity, cross-border disputes have continued to dog the summit.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh held “productive” talks on the sidelines of the summit Saturday but did not discuss their spat over territorial issues, officials said.

“We have reached important consensus on promoting bilateral ties,” Wen was quoted as saying by the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Beijing has voiced its opposition to a recent visit by Singh to Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian border state at the core of the dispute, and to a planned visit there next month by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

Arunachal Pradesh and the Dalai Lama were not discussed at Saturday’s meeting, an Indian delegation official said. The two nations fought a border war in 1962.

Thailand and Cambodia remained at loggerheads over the fate of fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen bizarrely offered him a job as his economic adviser.

Around 18,000 troops and dozens of armoured vehicles have been deployed in Hua Hin after the summit was twice postponed by anti-government protests, with another 18,000 on standby or on duty in Bangkok.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/afp/20091024/ wl_asia_afp/ aseansummit
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Burma, North Korea feature at Asian summit
The Associated Press
Date: Saturday Oct. 24, 2009 7:42 AM ET

CHA-AM, Thailand — Southeast Asian leaders, having launched the region’s first human rights watchdog, called Saturday on military-ruled Burma to conduct free and fair elections next year but refrained from criticizing one of the world’s worst human rights offenders.

Activists criticized the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for taking an even softer line on Burma than in the past, and ignoring growing demands to press for the release of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

A statement from the leaders did not mention Suu Kyi, sparing the junta a public scolding. It only “underscored the importance of achieving national reconciliation and that the general elections to be held in Burma in 2010 must be conducted in a fair, free, inclusive and transparent manner in order to be credible to the international community.”

When the three-day summit opened Friday, the bloc unveiled the region’s first human rights commission, but it was immediately derided as toothless by activists who pointed out that its mandate did not extend to prosecution of violators like Burma, an ASEAN member. The activists were also angered by the exclusion of several members of civil society from the summit.

“ASEAN no longer feels under pressure from the United States and European Union and as a result is softening its approach,” said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK.

He said a recent policy shift by Washington from shunning the junta to seeking high-level dialogue has been misinterpreted by Southeast Asian nations as a move in tandem with their own, long-held policy of engagement.

The Obama administration is sending Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, to Burma in the next few weeks. But Washington says it won’t lift its economic sanctions and continues to condemn the junta, calling for the release of Suu Kyi, who Saturday will have spent 14 years in detention.

“Basically the whole expectation is that the U.S. policy, which includes the engagement component, will somehow lead to some progress, (but) this will actually increase the complacency of the region,” said Debbie Stothard of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma. “What has been clear is the (junta) has been using this as a honeymoon to commit more … crimes against humanity.”

The leaders’ statement also urged North Korea to return to six-party talks aimed at halting Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, and stressed the need to continue domestic stimulus packages to ensure sustained recovery from the global economic crisis.

ASEAN’s 10 member countries include Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines.

The meeting at a Thai beach resort also includes leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama delivered a strong condemnation of North Korea, delegation spokesman Kazuo Kodama said.

“Japan cannot tolerate nuclear and ballistic missile development by North Korea,” Kodama quoted the prime minister as saying. “In order to insure peace and stability in the region, we must have comprehensive agreement. I urge you to close ranks with me.”

The ASEAN bloc is also following up on China’s $25 billion initiative to promote infrastructure development in Southeast Asia, Japan’s program on the use of efficient energy, and a $100 million South Korean project to help the region respond to climate change, conference documents said.

The statement also welcomed what it called a “historic point in ASEAN-U.S. relations,” a summit of the bloc and the United States scheduled for Nov. 15 in Singapore.
http://www.ctv. ca/servlet/ ArticleNews/ story/CTVNews/ 20091024/ Asian_summit_ 091024/20091024? hub=World
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Getting the Facts First
Saturday, October 24, 2009

Andrew Heyn, the new British ambassador to Burma, met with Aung San Suu Kyi recently to discuss the issue of Western sanctions on the military-ruled country. He found her engaging and fully focused on the subject at hand—clearly intent on learning all the facts before coming to any conclusions.

In this exclusive interview with The Irrawaddy, Ambassador Heyn describes his encounter with Burma’s leading pro-democracy activist, and discusses some of the challenges of his latest diplomatic posting.

Andrew Heyn
Question: After meeting Aung San Suu Kyi, can you describe the position she is now taking on sanctions?

Answer: The meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was a very welcome opportunity to discuss the issue of sanctions with her in person. She was clear that this was a fact-finding exercise and that she had not yet reached a policy position. She wanted to know more about what sanctions are in place, what led to the measures being imposed and whether there had been any assessment made of the impact of sanctions on the ground. It is too early to discuss specific proposals—she wants to know the facts first, and then discuss the issue with her party. I hope our meeting with her is the first of many. We would also be encouraged if the regime permitted her to meet her party members, and a broader range of Burmese and international interlocutors.

Q: Did she talk about the conditions of her house arrest or about the recent court case against her? Did you detect optimism on her part?

A: I had seen her once during her trial earlier this year but this was my first opportunity to engage with her in discussion. She is impressively articulate, focused and gracious. She did not talk about the conditions of her house arrest—our conversation was limited to the issue of sanctions, as requested by the regime. Throughout the meeting she had a positive, constructive approach to the discussion.

Q: Your predecessor as ambassador, Mark Canning, was notably forthright in his criticism of regime policy, particularly of the violent crackdown on the demonstrations of September and October 2007. How would you describe your relationship with the Burmese leadership so far? What is your benchmark on Burma?

A: Each ambassador will have his or her own distinctive style, but the key thing is that in this job you represent the UK view. I think Mark put it pretty well when he said “UK ambassadors to Burma might change, but our commitment to this country does not.” We are committed to this country—to seeing a peaceful, inclusive and sustainable settlement for the people of Burma, to seeing broad socio-economic development and to seeing a country where a government is committed to protecting and responding to the needs of its people, and to promoting the diverse cultures and identities of its diverse ethnicities.

Q: Former Ambassador Canning was a valuable source of news for Burma-watchers and journalists, and he wrote a regular blog for the British newspaper The Guardian. He left something of a legacy for you to follow.

A: The Guardian requested that I carry on the ambassador’s blog. You can find my early efforts at http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ blog/2009/ oct/09/aung- san-suu-kyi- burma .

Q: What are the most difficult challenges for a British ambassador in Burma? Is Britain’s troubled history in Burma a problem in dealing with the current regime?

A: It is a great honor to have been asked to do this job. My previous posting was in Ireland, where the bilateral relationship has been at times extremely difficult. But both there and in Burma, the important thing is to look forward and try to build on the good things that our historic links have brought and show due sensitivity on issues where our previous links raise particular complications.

Q: The US recently announced that it would engage in direct talks with the Burmese junta while maintaining sanctions. What do you think of this approach?

A: One of the first rules of diplomacy is to tread very carefully when talking about other country’s foreign policy choices! But the UK has welcomed the US approach, which rings it more closely into line with the EU’s position. This is to allow dialogue up to a certain level with flexibility to go above that level in particular circumstances.

Both the US and the EU will maintain sanctions and other restrictive measures for the time being. But we have both made it clear that we would stand ready to relax or remove these measures if there is concrete progress towards our key priorities, such as respect for human rights, the release of political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, inclusive dialogue with ethnic groups and free and fair elections next year.

Q: Britain is a firm supporter of the EU policy on sanctions, which currently mirrors the US stand. Can you foresee circumstances where the US and the EU might part company in their sanctions policies? Is there any likelihood of individual Western countries lifting sanctions unilaterally?

A: The EU sanctions are agreed to by all 27 Member States and can only be lifted if there is clear consensus across the EU to take such a step.

Q: In the ongoing military offensive against ethnic rebels in Karen and Shan states, there have been numerous reports of systematic human rights violations, including wanton killings and rape. The regime is trying to pressure the ethnic armed groups to transform themselves into border guard forces. How do you view these ethnic issues?

A: Creating a peaceful, just and inclusive solution is the key to sustainable reconciliation in Burma. This means addressing grievances and abuses of power, wherever they have taken place. It also means respecting the cultural, political and socio-economic rights of all Burma’s ethnic groups. A solution that does not provide adequate protection and inclusion for all is not a solution that can last.

Q: How do you view the regime’s plan to hold a general election in 2010? Most Burmese remain very skeptical. What kind of role can the international community, especially Western countries, play in ensuring that the elections are fair, credible and inclusive?

A: We have been clear that for these elections to have any credibility, they need to meet international standards of being free and fair. This means opposition parties being able to campaign freely, the release of political prisoners, and so on. As things stand, the process looks like falling short of these international standards. We will continue to press the authorities here to make the process one that would give any post-election government legitimacy in the eyes of the outside world.
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No Decision on Dialogue with Burma: US
By LALIT K JHA   Saturday, October 24, 2009

WASHINGTON — The administration of US President Barack Obama said on Friday that no decision has been taken on how the next round of dialogue with the Burmese authorities will be organized or who will be participating in it.

The first round of US-Burma talks were held in New York last month, and according to an unnamed Burmese official quoted in an Associated Press report, senior US officials will visit Burma for further talks next week.

“We hope that that dialogue will entail face-to-face meetings in Burma, but we still have not decided how exactly that dialogue will be organized,” US State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly told reporters during his daily press briefing on Friday.

When asked about the talks held in New York recently—the first since the administration announced its new Burma policy, which involves engaging the military junta—Kelly described them as “positive.”

“I don’t know if I would characterize it as progress. We have begun the dialogue, which is positive. But we are still working out exactly where we will go from here. As I say, we hope to be able to continue the dialogue. But nothing is confirmed at this point,” Kelly said.

Earlier this week, the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, who recently led talks with Burmese military leaders, confirmed that the US intended to pursue further dialogue with the junta.

Appearing before a Congressional panel early this week, Campbell said: “We intend to go to Burma in the next few weeks for a fact-finding mission.”

The Associated Press reported from Rangoon that a “high-ranking US official” would visit next week as part of the new approach by Washington, which has shunned Burma in the past. The name of the US official was not released by the unnamed Burmese official quoted in the report.
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U.S. Engagement With Myanmar Set For Next Week: Campbell
1 day ago
(RTTNews) – The U.S. will begin its engagement with Myanmar, also known as Burma, after a decade-long freeze next week by sending a top diplomat to Yangon, in line with Washington’s new policy of engaging the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation, reports say.

A fact-finding delegation led by Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, will head to Myanmar as part of an exploratory dialogue with that country’s military junta.

Campbell said he would travel to Myanmar to continue talks that he began in September in New York with senior Myanmar officials, the highest level U.S. contact with the military regime in last ten years.

On his way to Yangon, the top American diplomat is planning a stop-over in India to discuss with its leaders the objectives of the Obama administration’ s new Burma policy of pursuing deeper engagement with Myanmar’s military rulers to try to incite democratic reform.

The U.S. diplomat, who was in Beijing last week and met senior Chinese officials dealing with Myanmar issue, said in his testimony before the House Foreign Affairs committee that he thought the Chinese are intensely interested in the proposed dialogues.

“They see that the U.S. is stepping up its overall engagement in Southeast Asia. They are watching that carefully,” he said.

Campbell told the lawmakers he specifically asked for Chinese assistance particularly in terms of establishing a dialogue with internal parties in advance of the 2010 elections, and for Beijing’s overall support for the U.S. policy of engagement.

Meanwhile, the U.S. diplomat rebuffed calls by some lawmakers to ease tight curbs on trade and investment in Myanmar, saying at the hearing that the talks “will supplement rather than replace the sanctions regime.”

Emphasizing that the engagement with Burma would be a long drawn-out, slow, painful and step by step process he cautioned that “it will take more than a single conversation to resolve our differences.”

“The conclusions of our policy review, announced last month, reaffirmed our fundamental interests in Burma: We support a unified, peaceful, prosperous, and democratic Burma,” America’s top diplomat for Asia told the lawmakers.

Referring to military junta as “a group of men who had self isolated themselves”, Campbell said Myanmar was a country even lesser known than North Korea.

The U.S. State Department officials told the committee that the U.S. mission hopes to meet with the military junta as well as detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of ethnic groups.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews. com

Copyright(c) 2009 RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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China makes six-point proposal for cooperation with ASEAN
www.chinaview. cn 2009-10-24 17:02:02

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (6th L) poses for a group photo with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states in Hua Hin, Thailand, on Oct. 24, 2009. The 12th ASEAN-China Summit was held here on Saturday. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)
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HUA HIN, Thailand, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made a six-point proposal for strengthening cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in an address to the 12th summit between China and ASEAN here Saturday.

Wen said that, thanks to painstaking efforts, the financial situation in China and ASEAN countries had basically remained stable, with the economic situation generally becoming stable and turning for the better, and with trade between the two sides entering a stage of restorative growth.

He said, as a close neighbor and strategic cooperation partner of ASEAN, China would stand with ASEAN through thick and thin, and forge ahead side by side.

The Chinese premier proposed that steps be taken to enhance cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in the following six respects:

First, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area should be brought into play through publicising laws and regulations on the free-trade area and the professional training of human resources for it, and by assisting enterprises to make good use of its preferential policies, Wen said.

China was willing to hold a China-ASEAN Free Trade Area forum next year and jointly establish a commercial portal website with the ASEAN nations, he said.

Wen also proposed building an economic cooperation zone in the ASEAN nations in a bid to further expand Chinese investment in the region.

The premier called for protection of intellectual property rights, removal of technical trade barriers and establishment of a unified fauna and flora quarantine system.

Second, to accelerate the construction of infrastructure facilities, the two sides should reach an agreement as early as possible on priority projects under the strategic plan of China-ASEAN cooperation in transportation, and also reach an agreement as early as possible on the memorandum of understanding on China-ASEAN customs cooperation, Wen said.

Wen called for early signing of the China-ASEAN regional air traffic agreement as part of the efforts to build a sound regional infrastructure network.

Third, to deepen agricultural and rural cooperation, the two sides should actively promote the program of action on enhancing China-ASEAN grain production capacity and help ASEAN nations raise grain production to higher levels, Wen said.

Fourth, to promote sustainable development, both sides should make efforts to adopt the China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Strategy at the earliest possible date to expand cooperation in protection of bio-diversity, environment protection, clean production, environmental industries, new energy and renewable energy, Wen said.

China offered to help train 100 environment officials for ASEAN in the coming three years, he said.

Fifth, to strengthen social and cultural exchanges, China is willing to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN in disease control, culture, education, tourism and combating cross-border crimes. Both sides should make efforts to launch the China-ASEAN center as soon as possible, he said.

Sixth, to further advance regional cooperation at various levels, China supported the process of integration of and leading role for ASEAN in regional cooperation, Wen said.

The premier said China would establish a permanent representative office in ASEAN.

Meanwhile, Wen proposed a Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity, and push forward ASEAN-China relations to a new level.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attends the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, on Oct. 24, 2009. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attends the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, on Oct. 24, 2009. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
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Leaders of the ASEAN nations praised the considerable progress in the ASEAN-China relations and spoke highly of China’s good-neighbor and friendly policies and its commitment to strengthening cooperation with the ASEAN countries.

The leaders agreed that the Chinese side had taken practical actions to support and help the ASEAN countries to overcome difficulties and jointly tackle challenges.

The ASEAN leaders welcomed Premier Wen’s proposals for strengthening cooperation. They pledged to maintain political dialogue and deepen mutual trust with China.

The leaders also called for strengthening business ties and people-to-people exchanges. They pledged further efforts to boost exchanges and cooperation in such areas as fiscal policy and finance, disease control and prevention, environment and culture.

Meanwhile, more efforts should be made to push the reform of the international economic and financial system to ensure their mutual rights and interests, said the ASEAN leaders.

The China-ASEAN summit started here Saturday, attended by Wen and leaders from ASEAN’s 10 member countries and presided over by Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The Chinese government announced in April it would set up a 10-billion-U. S. dollar “China-ASEAN Fund on Investment Cooperation” to support infrastructure development in the region.

China also plans to offer a credit of 15 billion dollars to ASEAN countries and 270 million yuan (39.5 million U.S. dollars) in special aid to less-developed ASEAN countries.

The funding measures were designed to demonstrate China’s commitment to working with ASEAN in meeting current difficulties.

The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, scheduled to be established in2010, will be another milestone in the history of bilateral relationship.   http://news. xinhuanet. com/english/ 2009-10/24/ content_12315438 .htm