US Pushes Asean to Reject Burma

The Irrawaddy, by LALIT K JHA, Wednesday, April 20, 2011

US President Barack Obama (second right) and Burma's then Prime Minister
Thein Sein (second left) at the Asean-US leaders meeting in Singapore in 2009. (Photo: AP)

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration has said it is unwilling to work with the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) with Burma as its chair, given its poor track record on human rights and democracy.

The US government's views in this regard are being conveyed to Asean members at a time when Burma has intensified its bid to take on the chairmanship of the regional bloc in 2014.

“I mean, obviously, we would have concerns about Burma in any kind of leadership role because of their poor human rights record and domestically, I don’t have any more comment beyond that,” the State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, told reporters at his daily news conference.

Toner was responding to reports that the new civilian government in Burma has submitted a letter to the Asean Secretariat stating its readiness to take up the group's chair in 2014. At the 11th summit meeting in Vientiane in November 2004, under pressure from colleagues and the international community, Burma missed the chance to take the chair.

Burma wants Asean leaders to make a decision at the upcoming Jakarta summit on May 7-8, so it will have sufficient time to prepare for the year-long chair in three years time.

However, US officials said the Obama administration's position is clear—that unless Burma improves on its human rights records and addresses the issue of real democracy in the country, it will be tough for the international community to work with Asean if Burma plays a leadership role.

The State Department said it hoped that the nomination of a new special US representative to Burma by the US president last week would give fresh impetus to its policy on Burma.

“Hopefully, it will add new impetus to our outreach to Burma. But also, again, this is an individual who can also underscore our deep, deep concerns about the authoritative rule there,” Toner said when asked about the special US representative to Burma.

Meeting the long pending demand of his lawmakers, Obama, last week nominated diplomat Derek Mitchell as his special US representative on Burma. A well-known South East Asia hand, Mitchell will hold an ambassadorial rank in this capacity.

Currently the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs at the Department of Defense, Mitchell still has to undergo the rigorous confirmation process of the US senate before he can take on the new position.

“Whenever you name a senior official like this to do something, to lead our efforts in Burma, it elevates the initiative,” Toner said. “But we remain committed to our two-track approach to Burma and the engagement door does remain open.”

Meanwhile Surin Pitsuwan, the Asean secretary-general, told Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on Monday that US approval may hold the key to the bloc's decision on Burma's chairmanship.

He said the leaders of other Asean members will decide the matter, adding that the opinions of East Asia summit members will likely be respected.

Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India are among the 16 members of the East Asia Summit alongside the 10 Asean member states.

Related story: Burma Seeking to be Chair of Asean in 2014