ASEAN summit opens with no mention of Myanmar elections

Hanoi - A summit meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) opened Thursday with the signing of a series of agreements to harmonize regional trade, communication and transport.

Leaders attending the summit made no public reference to the most controversial regional issue, the upcoming elections in Myanmar, and only alluded to territorial disputes in the South China Sea, which have preoccupied the region over the past year.

In his opening speech, Nguyen Tan Dung, prime minister of host nation Vietnam, said ASEAN needed to 'promote the development of common norms and codes of conduct in the relations among countries.'


The remarks referred to efforts by Vietnam and other ASEAN members to pressure China to negotiate a legally binding agreement on conduct in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. China claims most of the sea as its own, and has detained hundreds of Vietnamese fishing boats over the past year.

Dung did not mention Myanmar's November 7 polls, which human rights advocates say are likely to violate clauses in ASEAN's Human Rights Charter.

But a member of the Philippine delegation said concerns over the election would likely be raised in private meetings by President Benigno Aquino III and other leaders of democratic ASEAN states.

'Traditionally the head of government of Myanmar briefs his counterparts, and naturally there will be reaction and discussion,' said Victoria Bataclan, head of the ASEAN office in Manila.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The body was long regarded as an ineffectual talk shop, but has moved in recent years to exercise more power on both economic and diplomatic fronts.

In 2007 the group adopted a binding charter, including provisions for a human rights body, but its meetings are still known for aversion to conflict or to taking up issues that may embarrass a member state.

The issues of Myanmar and of conflict in the South China Sea may receive a fuller airing on Saturday, when the follow-on East Asia Summit convenes. The group includes the 10 ASEAN member states along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.

The United States and Russia have been invited to join.

The US is represented by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been urged by human-rights advocates and congressmen to put human rights on the summit's agenda.

Source:http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1594724.php/ASEAN-summit-opens-with-no-mention-of-Myanmar-elections