US, Indonesia urge China and India to press Myanmar

US President George W. Bush and his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono admitted international pressure had so far failed to produce change, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told reporters after talks in Sydney.

The two also discussed terrorism and climate change on the sidelines of a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, but Wirajuda gave no details.

"All of us in ASEAN have in the past year admitted and recognized that the constructive engagement by ASEAN has not produced any tangible result -- we admit that," Wirajuda said.

He was referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has pursued a controversial policy of engaging Myanmar and admitted the reclusive country into its fold a decade ago.

"Likewise also the West, they admitted the sanctions and pressure approach do not work, so we are all frustrated," added Wirajuda, who was present in the meeting between Bush and Yudhoyono.

He said Yudhoyono told the US leader that "it's important to also work with China and India to help encourage Myanmar to change" because they are its two biggest neighbors.

Bush "agreed that we should talk with China and India," Wirajuda said.

The US president spoke about Myanmar earlier in his visit to Sydney for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, accusing its military rulers of "tyrannical" behavior in cracking down on street protests.

"It's inexcusable that people who march for freedom are then treated (this way) by a repressive state," he said.

The protests broke out in Myanmar on August 19 after a severe hike in fuel prices placed even a bus trip out of reach for many people living in a nation ruled with an iron fist.

Despite the threat of arrests and beatings, the protests spread across the country, leading to the detention of more than 150 people, according to rights group Amnesty International.

Philippines Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo also admitted Southeast Asian nations were frustrated at the lack of progress in Myanmar on democracy.

"We're still waiting, and there is now impatience in ASEAN about the fact that it's not working out the way we thought it would work out," Romulo said in Sydney on Friday.

The protests came as Myanmar's rulers concluded 14 years of constitutional talks that have left out democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).

Aung San Suu Kyi's party won elections in 1990, but the junta never recognized the result and she has spent more than a decade under house arrest.