Ministers grapple with Myanmar issue

By Reme Ahmad and Leslie Lau
The Straits Times: 26 July, 20062006

The slow pace of reforms in Myanmar bogged down deliberations yesterday (July 25) as Asean ministers grappled with the question of how to maintain the grouping's international credibility while it is trying to establish an Asean Community by 2015.

At the end of a one-day annual Asean Ministerial Meeting yesterday, the ministers issued a watered-down statement on the issue, calling on Myanmar to release all political prisoners, without naming Aung San Suu Kyi.

The statement also said that Asean recognises "Myanmar needs both time and political space to deal with its many and complex challenges".

The Straits Times understands that an original draft of the statement expressed Asean's disappointment, especially over how Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar had not been allowed to meet Ms Suu Kyi when he visited Yangon as an Asean envoy in March.

Deliberations among foreign ministers yesterday went into overtime, with countries like Singapore and Malaysia urging stronger language to prod Yangon towards democracy.

Some of the ministers here are concerned with the slow pace of reforms because it is becoming a major obstacle in Asean's targets for regional integration.

Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo said: "We acknowledge the difficulties Myanmar is facing. In the end, whatever happens there, the consequences are borne by the Myanmar people. So they need more space and they want more space and we've decided to give them more space."

He added that Asean's position was that it preferred to engage rather than isolate Yangon.

The only agreement the ministers obtained from Yangon yesterday was its decision to sign the Asean Framework Agreement on Visa Exemption.

The pact allows two-week visa-free entry for Asean nationals travelling within the region.

Currently, Asean nationals can travel visa-free in most countries in the region, except Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The ministers also specified in their statement their wish to see the establishment of an Asean Community by 2015, five years ahead of the original target.

Opening the meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said: "We have to move to become a true community because we cannot change our geography. We should never allow our countries to be divided again as they once were 40 years ago."

He also made clear to Asean ministers just why regional economic integration was crucial.

"Asean has already declared its wish to promote the growth of a larger community of East Asian countries. East Asian economic integration can be the first line of defence against regional economic crises such as the one we had in 1997," he said.

The first East Asia Summit was held last year at a meeting of Asean leaders here, with China, Japan, South Korea, India and Australia also participating, with an eye towards forming the world's largest trading area.

On the crisis over the North Korean nuclear programme, Asean expressed concern over the recent test-firing of missiles by Pyongyang, warning that it could "affect peace and stability in the region" and hoped that the members of the six-party talks would utilise their presence to promote the resumption of talks.

The bloc will host the Asean Regional Forum, the region's biggest security conference, tomorrow and Friday (July 27-28), bringing together 25 countries and the EU. They include the six countries involved in negotiations to end the nuclear crisis -- the two Koreas, United States, China, Japan and Russia.

Late yesterday, China's Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei announced that an informal meeting of the six nations had been scheduled on the sidelines of the summit on Friday (July 28).