Myanmar Says Us Sanctions Aimed At Asean Hopes

Myanmar military junta, reeling from a US decision to impose sanctions, has lashed back at Washington, accusing it of trying to derail its efforts to join the Asean regional grouping.

Lieutenant-Colonel Hla Min, a spokesman for the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), told Reuters in an interview that sanctions were part of a broader US strategy aimed at preventing Burma from entering the protective fold of Asean membership.

We have predicted this since eight months back, that more and more pressure will be put on Myanmar (Burma), especially at this moment to derail Myanmars entry into ASEAN, Hla Min said during a visit this week to Tachilek in eastern Shan State.

 

Hla Min said the US decision, announced on Tuesday, was aimed at encouraging the seven-member grouping to backpedal from a policy of engagement with Rangoon in order to isolate it.

He said Washington was trying to do this by painting Myanmars military government as among the worlds most oppressive regimes.

(But) the ASEAN countries also know the true situation in this country, he said. ...and they know that we are being unfairly pressured.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, which joined in July 1995. Burma, Laos and Cambodia are expected to join this July.

Leaders of the ASEAN countries said this week that the U.S. sanctions would not delay Burmas entry into the group.

But some Western analysts have said Burmas accession was tantamount to approval of the Burmese government and could make the regime less likely to bend to pressure over human rights and drugs trade allegations.

United States officials here say Burmas track record on both issues is abysmal.

They report arbitrary arrests, deaths in custody and point to the SLORCs continued failure to recognise the 1990 election victory of the opposition National League for Democracy, co-founded and led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The U.S. government also estimates Burma is the largest opium provider in the world, producing some 2,500 tonnes of opium last year, most from the so-called Golden Triangle region where Burma meets Thailand and Laos.

But Hla Min said the allegations were untrue. He said the government was working towards drugs eradication and was concentrating its efforts on ensuring that Burmas citizens had adequate food and clothing.

Human rights will come at a later stage, he added.

Some analysts see ASEANs moves to incorporate Burma as being partly prompted by concerns over Chinas perceived close relationship with the Rangoon government, which in recent years has purchased more than a billion dollars worth of arms from its giant northern neighbour.

Earlier this week, SLORC officials took foreign journalists to see work underway on a 65-mile (105-km) stretch of military-built highway linking Chinas Yunnan province with central Burma.

Officials said the 12-foot (4 metre) wide road was due for completion by July and would be able to support vehicles of up to 30 tonnes. They said the purpose was for transporting commodities.