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[justinm at ucr.edu]

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justin

2007-1118 - Reuters - Laos and Cambodia slam Myanmar sanctions

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/18/AR2007111800163.html

washingtonpost.com

Laos and Cambodia slam Myanmar sanctions

By Geert De Clercq
Reuters
Sunday, November 18, 2007; 5:14 AM

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Laos and Cambodia condemned the Western
economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar after its brutal
crackdown on democracy protests, calling on fellow members of
the ASEAN regional bloc to stay out of each other's affairs.

Laos, a poor and landlocked communist state of 6.5 million
people, has close political and economic ties with Myanmar. It
was the first country Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein
visited after his appointment last month.

"We denounce the imposition of sanctions or economic embargoes
against Myanmar," Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh told
Reuters in an interview on Sunday ahead of an Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also rejected sanctions,
ahead of a summit in Singapore on Tuesday where ASEAN leaders
will sign a charter that calls for promotion of human rights.

"Economy sanctions are no good. They will not make the leaders
of Myanmar die, but will lead to disaster for the civilian
population. They are counter-productive," Hun Sen said in
reply to questions at a business forum.

Myanmar's junta in September crushed the biggest pro-democracy
protests in nearly 20 years, killing at least 15 people. The
crackdown brought condemnation and tougher sanctions from the
United States and other Western countries.

The condemnation of sanctions The 10-nation Association of
ASEAN -- which Myanmar and neighboring Laos joined in 1997,
and Cambodia in 1999 -- has come under intense international
pressure to get tougher on Myanmar.

"All measures taken to address the situation in Myanmar should
be in strict conformity with ASEAN's fundamental principles,"
Bouphavanh said through a Lao government translator.

"ASEAN should adhere strictly to its fundamental principles of
respecting each other's independence and sovereignty. The
ASEAN principle of non-interference is a key element to
maintain cohesiveness in ASEAN," he said.

Western nations that have imposed sanctions against Myanmar
include the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

Singapore state broadcaster Channel News Asia's Web site
quoted Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as saying that
nobody in Asia supports sanctions against Myanmar.

"It's been tried in Iraq and nobody wants to have an Iraq in
Southeast Asia," Lee was quoted as saying.

The United States expanded its sanctions against Myanmar's
rulers in October, when it added 11 more Myanmar military
leaders to a list already facing sanctions, and tightened U.S.
export controls to the country.

The tightening of the export controls included a ban on the
sale of high-performance computers to Myanmar.

The European Union also agreed in October to strengthen
sanctions against Myanmar that included visa bans and asset
freezes on generals, an export ban on equipment to sectors
involving timber, metals, minerals, semi-precious and precious
stones plus import and investment bans on the sectors.

On Friday, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to urge ASEAN to
suspend Myanmar until the regime shows respect for human rights.

But ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong told Reuters on
Saturday that this was unlikely to happen, as ASEAN states
believe Myanmar is more likely to take the road to democracy
if it stays within ASEAN.

Singapore has banned all outdoor protests and rejected an
opposition party's request for a Myanmar pro-democracy protest
in the city-state.

(Additional reporting by Daryl Loo, Kevin Lim and Neil Chatterjee)
© 2007 Reuters

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu