The recent brutal crackdown on protesters in Myanmar by the military regime has led to a unified barrage of condemnation and sanctions from the West. Not so elsewhere. While China, India and Russia have rightly been accused of doing far too little to leverage their political muscle, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should be viewed in the same light. After all, other than the United Nations, ASEAN is by far the largest organization of which Myanmar is a member.
There does, however, appear to be some movement at ASEAN, whose leaders are gathered in Singapore for their annual summit this week. A condemnation of the junta's violent suppression of Buddhist monks and other peaceful protesters was announced on the heels of a bold statement by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, who said "Those who will sign the charter [committing all 10 members of ASEAN to promote human rights and democracy] agree to the objective, spirit and intent of establishing a human rights body - the full protection of human rights within Asean...Until the Philippine Congress sees that happen, it would have extreme difficulty in ratifying the Asean charter."
Despite this, signs that the government of Myanmar will be allowed to continue on the current path are much more prevalent. For one, the charter has been ratified by all ten members, despite President Arroyo's remarks. Furthermore, while host nation Singapore had invited the UN's special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, to make a speech at the event, Myanmarese officials objected, and gained the support of the eight other member nations, blocking Mr Gambari's briefing. Singapore then went on to reiterate the fact that "Myanmar is an integral part of the family."
Meanwhile, the European Union adopted sanctions against 1,207 firms in Myanmar and expanded visa bans and asset freezes on the country's military rulers. This follows a move by the US to impose similar sanctions targeting the country's key timber, metals and gemstone sectors.
In other news from ASEAN, following earlier agreement to fully liberalize aviation services by 2015, the bloc agreed at the summit to also eliminate trade barriers for goods and services in an attempt to create a European Union-modeled economic community by 2015. This does not include a single-currency or the freedom of movement across borders by citizens of member states, but looking at the path taken by the EU, this might very well be the first step in that direction.
There does, however, appear to be some movement at ASEAN, whose leaders are gathered in Singapore for their annual summit this week. A condemnation of the junta's violent suppression of Buddhist monks and other peaceful protesters was announced on the heels of a bold statement by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, who said "Those who will sign the charter [committing all 10 members of ASEAN to promote human rights and democracy] agree to the objective, spirit and intent of establishing a human rights body - the full protection of human rights within Asean...Until the Philippine Congress sees that happen, it would have extreme difficulty in ratifying the Asean charter."
Despite this, signs that the government of Myanmar will be allowed to continue on the current path are much more prevalent. For one, the charter has been ratified by all ten members, despite President Arroyo's remarks. Furthermore, while host nation Singapore had invited the UN's special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, to make a speech at the event, Myanmarese officials objected, and gained the support of the eight other member nations, blocking Mr Gambari's briefing. Singapore then went on to reiterate the fact that "Myanmar is an integral part of the family."
Meanwhile, the European Union adopted sanctions against 1,207 firms in Myanmar and expanded visa bans and asset freezes on the country's military rulers. This follows a move by the US to impose similar sanctions targeting the country's key timber, metals and gemstone sectors.
In other news from ASEAN, following earlier agreement to fully liberalize aviation services by 2015, the bloc agreed at the summit to also eliminate trade barriers for goods and services in an attempt to create a European Union-modeled economic community by 2015. This does not include a single-currency or the freedom of movement across borders by citizens of member states, but looking at the path taken by the EU, this might very well be the first step in that direction.
