on the eve of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s departure for India and Thailand, Senator John McCain urged her to push Burma’s neighbors to do more to support the cause of democracy in Burma.
McCain, who was the Republican candidate in last year’s US presidential election, also decried the Burmese junta’s decision to try opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on trumped-up charges.
“The junta’s latest actions are, once again, a desperate attempt by a decaying regime to stall freedom’s inevitable progress, in Burma and across Asia. They will fail as surely as Aung San Suu Kyi’s campaign for a free Burma will one day succeed,” McCain said on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday.
Noting that the US has a critical role to play as a powerful advocate of human rights, McCain added: “Nothing can relieve us of the responsibility to stand up for those whose human rights are in peril, nor of the knowledge that we stand for something in this world greater than self-interest.”
McCain was critical of Burma’s neighbors, including members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), for their failure to send a strong enough signal of solidarity with the Burmese people.
“The countries of Southeast Asia should be at the forefront of this call. Asean now has a human rights charter, in which member countries have committed to protect and promote human rights,” said McCain.
“Now is the time to live up to that commitment, and Asean could start by dispatching envoys to Rangoon in order to demand the immediate, unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi,” he added.
However, few people in Burma’s political opposition expect Asean to take a stronger stance against the regime.
“Asean acts like it is hitting a snake but doesn’t want to break its stick or kill the snake,” said Aye Thar Aung, a secretary of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament, using a Burmese proverb to describe Asean’s efforts to put pressure on the Burmese regime.
“If [Asean] really applied its charter, they could change Burma,” said Khin Maung Swe, a spokesperson for the opposition National League for Democracy. “We hope they will do it this time.”
Referring to a statement by Burma’s ambassador to the UN, Than Swe, that the regime is planning to grant an amnesty to a number of prisoners so they can participate in elections slated for next year, McCain said Asean should demand that this pledge include all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
“Secretary of State Clinton will travel to Thailand later this month to participate in the Asean Regional Forum, and I urge her to take this up with her Southeast Asian colleagues,” McCain said.
Regarding the UN secretary-general’s recent visit to Burma, he said the ruling generals reacted in their typical fashion. “They stage managed Ban Ki-moon’s visit, even refusing his request to speak before a gathering of diplomats and humanitarian groups. Instead, before leaving, he was forced to speak at the regime’s drug elimination museum,” he said.
McCain also spoke out strongly in support of sanctions against the Burmese junta.
“It is incumbent on all those in the international community who care about human rights to respond to the junta’s outrages. This means renewing the sanctions that will expire this year, and it means vigorous enforcement by our Treasury Department of the targeted financial sanctions in place against regime leaders.
“And it means being perfectly clear that we stand on the side of freedom for the Burmese people, and against those who seek to abridge it,” McCain said.
Lawi Weng contributed to this article.
***************N Korea, Myanmar Loom Over Asian Security Forum*****************
Foreign ministers at the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum in the Thai resort island of Phuket are also expected to discuss the region's economy and joint action on tackling swine flu.
Thousands of troops and police will throw a ring of steel around the isle for the July 19-23 meeting to prevent a repeat of anti-government protests that forced the abandonment of a separate Asian summit in Thailand in April.
"During the meetings ministers will exchange views on the situation on the Korea peninsula," Thai foreign ministry official Vitavas Srivihok said last week.
But he said North Korea's foreign minister had declined to attend and would instead send an ambassador at large to the meeting of 10 Asean members plus 16 dialogue partners including the U.S., China, Japan and South Korea.
Regional tensions have soared since the North quit six-nation talks on nuclear disarmament and vowed to restart its atomic weapons program in the wake of its recent defiant nuclear test and missile launches.
Foreign ministers from all six parties will be in Phuket except North Korea.
The U.S. State Department has been coy on whether Clinton would meet any North Korean delegates in Phuket, but spokesman Ian Kelly said last week that "I imagine that North Korea will be a topic at the Asean meeting."
Clinton, who leaves Washington for Mumbai on Thursday, will come to Phuket from India. She travelled to Asia in February on her first trip as secretary of state, visiting Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China.
In Phuket, Clinton will hold an unprecedented three-way meeting with her counterparts from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to discuss health and environmental issues concerning the Mekong river.
The forum will also face the perennial challenge of military-ruled Myanmar, which has sparked international outrage by putting pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on trial over an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house.
Myanmar, Asean's most troublesome member since joining the bloc in 1997, showed its defiance earlier this month by refusing to allow U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit the opposition icon when he visited the country.
Vitavas of the Thai foreign ministry said democratic reform in Myanmar could be raised during the Phuket talks. Myanmar's UN envoy said last week that the ruling junta would release prisoners ahead of elections planned next year.
The regional economy and swine flu could also come up at the Asean Regional Forum, Vitavas said. Thailand now has the largest death toll from the A(H1N1) virus in Asia, with 24 fatalities and more than 4,000 infections.
"We will discuss the pandemic and cooperation among members...there are several countries attending which are affected by the flu," Vitavas said - adding that visiting ministers would be screened for the virus on arrival.
Asean foreign ministers are further set to endorse a final version of the bloc's new human rights body, which has faced criticism for being unable to tackle persistent violators such as Myanmar.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has in recent weeks sought to reassure foreign ministers that the Phuket meeting will not be disrupted by anti- government demonstrators following months of political turmoil.
Thailand said it would deploy a 14,000-strong team for the forum and has announced a complete ban on protests in Phuket during the talks, while also invoking an internal security act for the island and its surrounding waters.
In April, Asian leaders were forced to flee the coastal city of Pattaya when protesters loyal to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra stormed the venue. Two days of deadly rioting in Bangkok ensued.
The leaders' summit has now been postponed until October. It was originally due to be held last December but was repeatedly delayed and moved because of ongoing political turmoil in Thailand.
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