By SEAN YOONG
AP
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Myanmar's military rulers will ignore demands for restoring democracy as long as China, India and Southeast Asian countries keep supporting them, regional lawmakers said Monday (August 20th).
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations should form a "triangle of influence" with China and India to exert political and economic pressure on Myanmar's junta, which "has broken its promises to ASEAN many times before about implementing genuine reforms," said Charles Chong, a Singaporean member of Parliament.
"All of us - ASEAN, China and India - will suffer if Myanmar's situation continues to deteriorate," Chong said at a gathering of more than 20 national legislators from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore to discuss Myanmar's politics.
Problems sparked by the Myanmar military's grip on power have hurt the region, sending refugees to Thailand and Malaysia, producing illegal drugs that spill over to China and wrecking ASEAN's efforts to be seen as an influential grouping, Chong said.
Some lawmakers at the meeting called for the region's public and private sectors to pull investments out of Myanmar, adding that they would submit a petition to the Chinese and Indian governments to exercise more moral courage in tackling Myanmar.
"With Beijing as its 'godfather," the (Myanmar government) has been emboldened to act with impunity and contempt for the concerns of its immediate neighbors," the lawmakers said in a statement.
Chong acknowledged it would be tough to coax China to withdraw its diplomatic support for Myanmar's junta and crucial investments in oil, gas and minerals.
"Not even the U.S. and the E.U. can compel China to do something it doesn't want to," he said. "But China wants to be respected globally, and we know that responsible global leaders would not support a regime that inflicts such suffering on its own people."
Myanmar's current junta, which took power in 1988, held general elections in 1990 but refused to cede power after a landslide victory by the National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations should form a "triangle of influence" with China and India to exert political and economic pressure on Myanmar's junta, which "has broken its promises to ASEAN many times before about implementing genuine reforms," said Charles Chong, a Singaporean member of Parliament.
"All of us - ASEAN, China and India - will suffer if Myanmar's situation continues to deteriorate," Chong said at a gathering of more than 20 national legislators from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore to discuss Myanmar's politics.
Problems sparked by the Myanmar military's grip on power have hurt the region, sending refugees to Thailand and Malaysia, producing illegal drugs that spill over to China and wrecking ASEAN's efforts to be seen as an influential grouping, Chong said.
Some lawmakers at the meeting called for the region's public and private sectors to pull investments out of Myanmar, adding that they would submit a petition to the Chinese and Indian governments to exercise more moral courage in tackling Myanmar.
"With Beijing as its 'godfather," the (Myanmar government) has been emboldened to act with impunity and contempt for the concerns of its immediate neighbors," the lawmakers said in a statement.
Chong acknowledged it would be tough to coax China to withdraw its diplomatic support for Myanmar's junta and crucial investments in oil, gas and minerals.
"Not even the U.S. and the E.U. can compel China to do something it doesn't want to," he said. "But China wants to be respected globally, and we know that responsible global leaders would not support a regime that inflicts such suffering on its own people."
Myanmar's current junta, which took power in 1988, held general elections in 1990 but refused to cede power after a landslide victory by the National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
