BurmaNet News, December 3, 2004

[Editor]

December 3, 2004, Issue # 2612


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Rangoon to meet with ceasefire groups
AFP: Myanmar readies for Buddhist summit despite boycott
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Sri Lanka cancels attendance at Myanmar's
Buddhist summit
AFP: Myanmar launches crackdown on Indian militant camps: rebel leader
Xinhua: Myanmar attaches importance to developing ties with China: PM

BUSINESS
Xinhua: Five-nation trade fair opens in Myanmar

GUNS
AFP: Lobby group urges EU to keep China arms ban

REGIONAL
IPS: Suu Kyi's spirit can never be killed - East Timor's Xanana
AP: U.N. refugee agency worried over looming Malaysian clampdown

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: US demands immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi
AFP: Rome calls for immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi

OPINION / OTHER
FT: Silence is golden
South China Morning Post: Asean must tackle Myanmar embarrassment

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 3, Irrawaddy
Rangoon to meet with ceasefire groups - Nandar Chann

Lt-Gen Thein Sein, secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council,
is scheduled to meet this weekend with leaders of ceasefire groups from
northern Shan State. Talks will center around the National Convention, the
assembly charged with drafting a new constitution.

Thein Sein, who chairs the “National Convention Convening Committee”, will
arrive in Lashio, northern Shan State, on Saturday. He will meet leaders
of the Shan State Army-North, or SSA-N; the Shan State National Army, or
SSNA; the United Wa State Party, or UWSP; the Palaung State Liberation
Organization, or PSLO; the Kachin Democratic Army, or KDA; and the Myanmar
National Democracy Alliance Army, or MNDAA, based in the Kokang region.

“We don’t know the exact time of the meeting, but we leaders have been
summoned to meet with him [Thein Sein],” said an SSA-N officer on Friday.
Both the chairman and vice-chairman of the SSA-N expect to see Thein Sein.

“[We] plan to attend the Convention, but there will be changes among our
representatives,” he added.

This weekend, Thein Sein is expected to discuss the joint proposal paper
of thirteen ethnic ceasefire groups, which was submitted during the
previous session of the National Convention on July 9.

The paper includes a recommendation that planned state assemblies be
granted some legislative authority independent of Rangoon. The proposal
also calls for state assemblies to have the right to maintain militias
autonomous of the Burma Army.

The National Convention Committee had dismissed the ceasefire groups’
proposal and urged them to amend it.

The National Convention, opened in May and adjourned in July, is the first
item of a seven-point “road map” for political reform announced by
then-prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt on August 30, 2003. Last month, Rangoon
announced that the convention will resume in February 2005.

______________________________________

December 3, Agence France Presse
Myanmar readies for Buddhist summit despite boycott

Yangon: Military-ruled Myanmar said Friday it had completed its
preparations for hosting next week's Buddhist summit despite a call for a
boycott and the withdrawal of key Japanese sponsorship.

The regime has built a new convention hall and spruced up temples for the
fourth World Buddhist Summit, ignoring international pressure to call it
off in the wake of top-level changes within Myanmar's military hierarchy.

"This will be an historic event and we will go ahead on schedule without
any change of policy," a report in the state newspaper New Light of
Myanmar said.

Invitations have been sent to top Buddhist leaders from 37 nations,
including those in 17 countries who were told by the main sponsor that the
summit had been called off, it added.

Last month Japan's Nenbutsushu sect, which has held the summit every two
years in a Buddhist nation, withdrew its sponsorship over concerns about
the junta's hardline shake-up which included the sacking of premier
General Khin Nyunt.

It was originally scheduled for December 9-13 but will now end two days
early. Nenbutsushu has said most countries told them they would not
attend.

Last month a source from Myanmar's religious affairs department said about
2,500 delegates had been expected but the numbers were now due to be much
lower, with 10 of 40 invited countries expected to attend.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based
rights group, has called for a boycott of the conference because of the
detention of an estimated 300 monks by the regime.

Myanmar's outlawed Young Monks' Association has expressed its support for
the boycott.

The junta has been trying to promote religious tourism to the "Land of
Pagodas" to help its ailing economy, which is suffering under
international sanctions.

The military has ruled Myanmar since a coup in 1962.

____________________________________

December 3, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Sri Lanka cancels attendance at Myanmar's Buddhist summit

Yangon: Sri Lanka has cancelled plans to send a nine-person delegation
headed by the prime minister to attend the 4th World Buddhist Summit,
hosted by Myanmar's (Burma's) military regime, informed sources said on
Friday.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has cancelled his planned
attendance of the Buddhist summit this month due to "unavoidable
circumstances," a diplomatic source said in Yangon.

Rajapaksa was initially scheduled to lead a nine-person delegation to
participate in the religious summit December 8 to 11. Sri Lanka, like
Myanmar, is a predominantly Buddhist country.

Myanmar's military government has invited 2,500 representatives from 40
countries to attend the 4th World Buddhist Summit, but as the event
approaches there are signs that the regime is now down-playing its
international nature.

Myanmar's state-controlled press recently began referring to the upcoming
4th World Buddhist Summit as simply a "Buddhist meeting."

It is unclear how many cancellations, other than the Sri Lankan
delegation's, have been received to date.

Myanmar has been ruled by an unelected military junta since 1988.

The regime's refusal to respect the results of the country's 1990 general
election, which was won by the National League for Democracy (NLD) of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and its detention of Suu Kyi since
May, 2003, have secured its status as one of the world's most notorious
pariah states.

Myanmar authorities last week reportedly informed Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace
laureate, that her house detention would be extended for another year.

Myanmar's ruling generals appear frequently on state-owned television
making merit at Buddhist temples and paying respect to Buddhist monks.

____________________________________

December 3, Agence France Presse
Myanmar launches crackdown on Indian militant camps: rebel leader - Zarir
Hussain

Guwahati: Myanmar has launched a major military operation to evict Indian
separatists from its soil, sparking heavy fighting in the thick jungles in
the north of that country, a rebel leader said Friday.

Kughalo Mulatonu, a leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland
(NSCN) which is fighting for a tribal homeland in India's northeastern
state of Nagaland, said pitched battles had been fought in the past few
days.

At least three brigades (about 10,000 personnel) are involved in the
operation in military-run Myanmar, he said.

"We have lost at least five to six mobile camps since the offensive
began," Mulatonu told AFP by telephone from Kohima, the Nagaland state
capital.

"It is a war-like situation with weapons such as sub-machineguns, AK-47s,
carbines, and light machine guns used by us and the enemy troops during
the continuing gunbattle."

There has been no immediate confirmation of the military offensive from
Myanmar although an Indian army commander said intelligence inputs
indicated "something serious" was taking place inside the neighbouring
country.

"We don't exactly know the details but we can sense something serious
happening inside Myanmar and hence a full alert (has been) sounded all
along the border to prevent infiltration of rebels," said the commander,
who requested anonymity.

The rebel leader said the NSCN has at least 50 camps with some 5,000
guerrilla fighters entrenched in fortified bunkers in the Sagaing Division
of Myanmar.

At least four other militant groups from India's northeast, where numerous
tribal and ethnic groups are fighting for greater autonomy or
independence, have training camps in northern Myanmar's thick jungles --
all of them sheltered there under the patronage of the NSCN.

Mulatonu said that all top leaders, including chairman S.S. Khaplang, are
safe.

"We are not going to leave Myanmar and shall fight and repulse the
Myanmarese forces. In many places we have planted landmines and timebombs
to prevent the army from advancing."

The rebel leader claimed at least 5,000 tribal Naga villagers living on
the periphery of their camps have fled their homes since the operation
began.

"The Myanmarese troops have now surrounded several villages, with the
civilian population fleeing for safety and taking shelter in the adjoining
jungles," the NSCN leader said.

The NSCN's Khaplang faction has been observing a ceasefire with New Delhi
since 2001 although peace talks are yet to begin.

"New Delhi is privy to the operation in Myanmar and the government of
India will be responsible if we have to pull out of the truce because of
this offensive," Mulatonu said.

In October Myanmar's military strongman General Than Shwe ended a visit to
India with a pledge that the junta would not let Indian rebels operate
from its soil.

The last time Myanmar launched a military operation against the NSCN and
other Indian rebels was in 2001 when at least a dozen separatists were
killed.

India and Myanmar share a 1,640 kilometer (1,000 mile) long unfenced
border, allowing militants from the northeast to use the adjoining country
as a springboard to carry out hit-and-run guerrilla strikes on federal
soldiers.

The rebels say they are seeking to protect their ethnic identities and
allege the federal government has exploited the resources in this mineral,
tea, timber, and oil-rich region.

More than 50,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the
northeast since India's independence in 1947.

____________________________________

December 3, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar attaches importance to developing ties with China: PM

Yangon: Myanmar Prime Minister Lieutenant- General Soe Win said Friday his
country attaches importance to developing friendly ties with China and
wishes to further the cooperation between the two countries in every
sector.

Soe Win made the remarks when he met with visiting Chinese Vice Foreign
Minister Wu Dawei.

Soe Win reiterated Myanmar's persistent adoption of the "one- China"
policy and its opposition to "Taiwan independence."

The prime minister welcomed more Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in
Myanmar and cooperate in the exploitation of the country 's natural
resources.

At the meeting, Wu said China attaches similar importance to the
development of the good-neighborly ties with Myanmar, expressing
willingness to jointly push such development forward in the new century
based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
On the same day, Wu called on First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace
and Development Council Lieutenant-General Thein Sein and met with Foreign
Minister U Nyan Win.

Wu also held a diplomacy consultation with his Myanmar counterpart U Kyaw
Thu.

Wu arrived here earlier on Friday for the regular consultation at the
invitation of the Myanmar Foreign Ministry.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS

December 3, Xinhua General News Service
Five-nation trade fair opens in Myanmar

Yangon: A five-nation trade fair involving Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam (CLMTV) was inaugurated at the Convention Center here
Friday with the attendance of Myanmar Prime Minister Lieutenant-General
Soe Win and high-ranking commerce officials of the five countries.

The five-day CLMTV-ECS (Economic Cooperation Strategy) Trade Fair, the
first of its kind, is aimed at promoting trade, gaining market access for
exportable products, enhancing investment opportunities and strengthening
relations among the ECS countries.

Displayed at over 100 booths of the five countries are jewelry from
Cambodia, garments and souvenirs from Laos, chemical and leather products
and fertilizer from Vietnam and construction materials and cosmetics from
Thailand, while exhibits from Myanmar cover electrical goods, foodstuff,
consumers goods, handicrafts, wood products, pearls and jewelry as well as
musical instruments.

A business and investment forum of the CLMTV-ECS was also attached with
the fair with a theme of achieving closer trade and economic cooperation
among the five countries.

Myanmar's hosting of the trade fair was agreed at the ECS summit of the
four original countries -- CLMT, held in Myanmar's Bagan in November 2003.
Vietnam joined the regional ECS last month.

Myanmar's foreign trade with members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), mainly Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the
Philippines, amounted to over 2 billion US dollars in the fiscal year
2003-04, accounting for 51 percent of its total foreign trade, according
to official statistics.

Of the 1.2 billion dollars Myanmar-Thailand trade during the year,
Myanmar's export to Thailand amounted to 1.09 billion dollars, while its
import from Thailand to 110 million dollars.

_____________________________________
GUNS

December 3, Agence France Presse
Lobby group urges EU to keep China arms ban

Brussels: An international lobby group backed by Tibet rights activists
called on the European Union Friday to retain an arms ban on China imposed
after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

The arms embargo, which critics say is outdated, is expected to be
discussed at an EU-China summit in the Netherlands next Wednesday. The
EU's Dutch presidency has said it expects to send a "positive" signal to
Beijing.

"An end to the embargo cannot be justified without significant improvement
of human rights in China," said a statement by the European Coalition
Against the Lifting of the EU's Embargo on Weapons Sales to China.

"Any lifting of the arms embargo would potentially lead to European
weapons technology being used to suppress peaceful resistance by the
people of Tibet, East Turkistan (Uighur Muslims), Inner Mongolia (or)
against Taiwan," it said.

In addition European weapons could end up in the hands of the North
Korean, Myanmar or Sudanese armies, "who are privileged recipients of
Chinese arms," it said.

Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot said last month that the EU is "ready to
give a positive signal as far as the lifting of the embargo is concerned,"
although stressing "there remain a number of concerns."

Europe notably wants more progress by China on human rights, while the EU
is still working to tighten up a code of conduct to govern the eventual
resumption of arms sales to China.

European countries are eager to boost trade ties with China, the largest
market in the world, and some EU states led by France and Germany argue
the weapons ban is outdated.

But others say the time is still not right. The European Parliament, in a
non-binding vote last month, said the EU should maintain the embargo
against China until it improves its human rights record.

The pro-embargo lobby group comprises notably the International Campaign
for Tibet and pro-Tibet groups from a dozen EU countries, as well as the
International Society for Human Rights and Reporters Sans Frontieres.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 3, Inter-Press News Service
Suu Kyi's spirit can never be killed - East Timor's Xanana - Sonny Inbaraj

Bangkok: Despite walking with kings and world leaders, East Timor's
President Xanana Gusmao still hasn't lost his common touch. And neither
has he forgotten his days as a political prisoner when he made a
passionate plea for the release of Burma's detained pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.

''I appeal to the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi. I'm not talking as
the president of East Timor to pressure the (Burmese) junta, but I'm
talking as a former political prisoner asking the junta to reflect on
this,'' Gusmao said in his address to the Foreign Correspondents Club of
Thailand.
''They can never kill her mind, even if she's put in a very, very,
difficult position in detention...They can never kill her spirit, her
sense of principles or her sense of freedom,'' he said on Thursday
evening.

Gusmao was on his way to Washington DC to receive the W. Averell Harriman
Democracy Award from the National Democratic Institute. The East Timor
president's co-awardees are former Philippines president Corazon Aquino;
former Czech Republic president Vaclav Havel; former Malian President
Alpha Oumar Konare, who now chairs the African Union; President Mikheil
Saakashvili of the Republic of Georgia and Chilean President Ricardo
Lagos.

The Burmese generals on Monday prolonged by another 12 months the house
arrest of Suu Kyi, who has been detained for a total of nine years since
1989.

The move prompted a wave of international condemnation, with United
Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and various governments, including
those of the United States, Britain and Germany heaping scorn on Burma's
ruling junta.

''I would like to express my concern about this extension of Suu Kyi's
detention. I hope my voice as a former political prisoner can help the
(Burmese) government think about this appeal,'' said Gusmao.

On May 20, 2002, Gusmao - the ex-guerilla leader and political prisoner -
was sworn in the first president of the newly independent East Timor after
getting an overwhelming 90 percent of the ballot in the Apr. 14
presidential election.

In late August 1999, East Timor voted in a U.N.-sponsored referendum to
break away from Indonesia, setting off a wave of violence by pro-Jakarta
militants and Indonesian security forces, which killed an untold number
and caused hundreds of thousands to flee to neighbouring West Timor.

Gusmao was appointed head of the Fretilin party in 1978 after Nicolau
Lobato was killed by the Indonesian military. He was elected
commander-in-chief of the Falintil resistance forces in 1981.
On Nov. 20, 1992, he was captured by the Indonesian military and taken to
Jakarta, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment. It was later
commuted to 20 years.

Despite Gusmao's jailing, world leaders had requested they meet with him
during visits to Indonesia, then under the autocratic rule of President
Suharto. Former South African President Nelson Mandela met with him for
two hours in July 1997, in a historic visit that dramatically raised
international awareness of the situation in East Timor.

''When Mandela wanted to visit me in (Jakarta's) Cipinang jail, he went to
Suharto to ask for permission. Suharto first said no. Mandela then
replied: 'President, I was also a political prisoner and the (South
African) apartheid regime allowed other people to visit me,'' reminiscised
Gusmao.
''Of course, Suharto could not avoid the meeting between me and Mandela,''
he added.
The East Timor president said he understood what Suu Kyi was going through
in detention and urged her to be strong.

''In prison they would try to kill your mind and freedom of spirit. But it
is always futile,'' he said. ''They might kill you physically, if they
wanted, but they can never take away your sense of freedom for your people
and the sense of fighting for justice. In this case I know Suu Kyi will be
strong and I ask her to keep being strong.''

Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), began her
latest period under house arrest in May 2003 following a violent clash
between her supporters and a pro-junta mob. Her party said on Monday her
arrest had been extended for another year.

It is Suu Kyi's third period of house arrest since she took up the
democracy struggle in 1988. In 1991, the NLD leader was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

Also on Thursday, three of Suu Kyi's fellow Nobel Peace laureates joined
the international chorus of protest over her extended house arrest, after
a peace seminar in Kenya.

''We demand that she be freed and freedom and democracy returns to her
country,'' this year's Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai told reporters
in the capital Nairobi.

Maathai, a Kenyan woman who won this year's peace prize for decades of
environmental work, like her Burmese counterpart, has been the target of
state brutality for championing multi-party democracy.

Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirn Ebadi who won the 2003
Nobel peace price for work on behalf of women and children in her country
said: ''It is a shame that Suu Kyi will remain in prison. We are calling
for her unconditional release.''

Jody Williams of the U.S. who in 1997 won the Nobel accolade jointly with
the group she coordinates, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
told reporters she visited Suu Kyi in February last year and was told to
ask the ''international community to isolate the dictatorial regime in
Burma ... until they accept democracy for its people as well as release
her.''

_____________________________________

December 3, Associated Press
U.N. refugee agency worried over looming Malaysian clampdown - Jonathan
Fowler

Geneva: The United Nations refugee agency said Friday it is concerned that
genuine refugees in Malaysia could get caught up in a looming crackdown on
hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

The Malaysian crackdown is expected to start in January, following the end
of an amnesty period that allows illegal immigrants to leave Malaysia
without being detained.

UNHCR fears that law enforcement officers and the half million civilian
volunteers set to join them in the sweep lack an understanding of basic
refugee rights, said Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman for the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees. The agency is also concerned over reports that
they have been offered bounties for every migrant they catch.

"We understand the government's intention to tackle the issue of illegal
migrants," Pagonis said, adding that Malaysia has assured UNHCR genuine
refugees will not be targeted.

But "we have misgivings," she said. The sweep "could place thousands of
refugees and asylum seekers at risk."

On Thursday the Malaysian government rejected concerns by human rights
groups over the plan to arrest and deport hundreds of thousands of people.

Malaysian Home Minister Azmi Khalid said officials would try to curb
potential problems, stressing that all personnel involved in the crackdown
have been instructed to be "kind" to suspects.

Officials estimate some 1 million foreigners work illegally in Malaysia's
construction, plantation and domestic services sectors, most of them from
Indonesia. But more than 100,000 immigrants have are believed to have left
Malaysia in the last month - one of Southeast Asia's most peaceful,
prosperous nations.

UNHCR says there are some 28,000 refugees in Malaysia, most of them from
Indonesia and Myanmar. Many live in makeshift settlements alongside
illegal migrants, raising fears they will be caught up in the sweep.

UNHCR plans to send teams register genuine refugees and give them identity
documents, but is unlikely to complete the operation before the start of
the sweep, Pagonis said.

Meanwhile, Malaysian authorities have said they will give temporary stay
permits to 10,000 refugees who fled Myanmar's military regime. "However,
it now seems they will not have official government documentation before
the clampdown starts," said Pagonis.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 2, Agence France Presse
US demands immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi

Washington: The White House on Thursday demanded that Myanmar military
authorities "immediately and unconditionally" release opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and condemned her extended house arrest.

"The United States calls on the regime to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all
other political prisoners immediately and unconditionally, and to begin
taking other meaningful steps toward national reconciliation, democracy,
and improved human rights," spokesman Scott McClellan said.

"Only then will Burma be able to rejoin the community of nations and
ensure security and prosperity for its people," McClellan said in a
statement.

The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner's National League for Democracy (NLD)
and security officials told AFP in Yangon on Monday that they had received
information her detention had been prolonged by a year.

"We note with deep concern reports that the Burmese regime has extended
her detention for an additional year," said McClellan.

"If true, this represents a return to a pattern of unacceptable
backtracking on commitments the regime itself has made to move toward
democracy and national reconciliation," the spokesman said.

"We had hoped that some recent prisoner releases were a sign that the
regime was beginning to move in the right direction, but the continued
detention of Aung San Suu Kyi seems to indicate that this is not the
case," he said.

Her first period of house arrest started in 1989, and although she led the
NLD to a landslide election victory in 1990 from her confinement, the
military, which took control of Myanmar in 1962, refused to accept the
result.

Aung Sang Suu Kyi was released in July 1995, but detained again in 2000.
She was released in May 2002 but growing tensions saw her back under house
arrest only a year later.

Earlier this month, the junta released more than 9,248 prisoners ahead of
a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which
Myanmar is a part, although only about 40 of these were political
dissidents.

"Some of Burma's neighbors have engaged the regime in an effort to
encourage positive change, but these overtures have been consistently
rebuffed," said McClellan.

"The generals in Rangoon must come to understand that they cannot
indefinitely suppress the legitimate aspirations of the Burmese people and
resist the worldwide march to freedom and democracy," the spokesman said.

_____________________________________

December 2, Agence France Presse
Rome calls for immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi

Rome: Italy on Thursday called for the "immediate release" of Myanmar's
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose already lengthy house arrest has
been extended by the military authorities in Yangon.

"If confirmed, the decision by the Myanmar junta to extend for another
year the detention of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and democratic
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi gives rise to very great concern,"
deputy foreign minister Margherita Boniver said in a statement.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 3, Financial Times
Silence is golden

The silence from the south-east Asian leaders' meeting in Laos this week
over Burma suited some more than others.

Though word reached the summit that Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's Nobel
prize-winning champion of democracy, will likely remain under lock and key
for another year, there was no reference to the military regime's
repression during the event.

Observer hears there was talk of a joint statement condemning Rangoon's
treatment of Suu Kyi but no agreement was reached.

Among those who will not be unhappy is Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai prime
minister. Things have been tricky for him in Burma since Gen Soe Win
replaced Gen Khin Nyunt as Burmese premier in a palace coup last month.
Win has been accused of personally plotting the brutal May 2003 attack on
Suu Kyi's convoy.

Shin Satellite, the telecommunications company founded by Thaksin and now
controlled by his immediate family, has signed business deals with Bagan
Cybertech, a firm owned by Khin Nyunt's son.

Bagan has now been taken over by rival forces within the military, who are
also said to have grabbed the rest of Khin Nyunt's rather extensive
business empire.

Surely Thaksin wouldn't wish to see his family's new business partners
given cause for offence?

_____________________________________

December 3, South China Morning Post
Asean must tackle Myanmar embarrassment

For the second year running, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations have failed to take Myanmar to task formally for its regressive
steps on the road to democracy. This is despite the transparent
frustration of many member countries at the decision to extend house
arrest for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other signs that the
hardliners have tightened their grip on power.

This year's outcome, much like last year's, will only serve to highlight
how the organisation's dysfunctional way of dealing with politics in its
own backyard has changed so little, even as progress is being made on
economic integration within Asean and the entire Asian region. It could
well limit how seriously Asean is taken, and blow up into a full-scale
embarrassment by the time Myanmar takes over leadership of the bloc in
just over a year's time. Something needs to be done before then - and it
has to be more than just polite tjte- -tjtes asking the generals to be
nicer to the junta's political opponents.

A statement prepared for inclusion in the Vientiane summit's final
declaration was reportedly scotched because of Thai opposition. Within
Asean, nothing happens without consensus and one objection is enough to
stall a proposal. The arrangement provides for maximum harmony but has
stalled progress on many fronts, not just in political matters. One
article in Malaysia's New Straits Times hailed the approach as "Asean's
peculiar diplomacy of letting everyone win". Very peculiar indeed, as the
reluctance to embarrass a member could well lead to embarrassment for the
bloc as a whole.

At last year's meeting, nothing was said about the continued
marginalisation of Ms Suu Kyi and her party, which won the country's last
democratic election but was never allowed to take office. Instead, the
collective statement praised the "positive developments" found in
Myanmar's promise to hold a constitutional convention. The member
countries also deemed sanctions unhelpful. Afterwards Thailand, one of
Myanmar's largest trading partners, was asked to exert its influence, to
little visible effect.

It is true that a strong Asean statement will not by itself produce
results in Myanmar, but it would be a start. Effective action on Myanmar
will likely need to eventually include China, another large trading
partner as well as a source of arms, aid and diplomatic support. Then
there is India, which shares a land border and friendly relations with
Myanmar - so friendly it recently went ahead with a plan to host a
top-level meeting just after the generals consolidated power. The fact
that both these large regional powers are being drawn into Asean's orbit
through trade deals might also be exploited to sharpen the diplomatic
focus on attaining some progress in Myanmar.

It is ironic that Asean's political stagnation continues even as events
are accelerating on the economic integration front. This year's meeting
saw the signing of an agreement with China. When completed by 2010, the
resulting free -trade zone would be the world's largest. Similar deals are
in progress with Japan and South Korea. The prospects are growing that the
separate agreements will be used as building blocks for the formal
establishment of an "Asean plus three" zone encompassing all of East Asia.
If this is accomplished, the result could be nothing less than the world's
most powerful trading bloc and a diplomatically significant grouping
capable of counterbalancing American influence in the region.

But if Asean and the emerging "Asean plus three" want to achieve both
objectives, they will have to develop a willingness to criticise member
countries when they misbehave. And they should do it soon, as there is
potential for much more embarrassment when Myanmar takes over the Asean
leadership. What kind of message will the world get when the hosts of the
region's most important meetings are unelected generals who silence their
opposition by throwing them behind locked doors?