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At APEC Summit India And China Urged To Pressure Burma On Human Rights
September 10, 2007: (AHN) Sydney, Australia- The United States and Indonesia called on China and India to use their influence on Burma, officially known as Myanmar, to improve its human rights record.
U.S. President George W. Bush and his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney on Saturday, admitted international pressure had so far failed to produce any change in Burma, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told reporters.
U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jim Jeffrey confirmed that Bush had raised the Burma issue with Yudhoyono, saying he had done so with many of the 21 leaders attending the summit. "I wouldn't want to single out any single country, but we would be delighted if both of those countries would do more. Everybody needs to do more."
Bush was calling on all countries attending the APEC summit "to deal with this pressing human rights problem," Jeffrey told reporters.
During the talks, the Indonesian president told Bush that "it's important to work with China and India to help encourage Myanmar to change" since they are its two biggest neighbors. "Bush agreed that we should talk with China and India," Wirajuda said.
But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao ruled out the possibility of Beijing wading into the internal affairs of another country. "We have repeatedly stated China's position, which is not to interfere in other nations' internal affairs. It's a very important principle," he told newsmen.
Burma has been widely criticized for its human rights violations including the continued house arrest of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The country has been under military control since 1962.