Recently, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) accepted Burma and Laos as fully fledged members after a short time as observers. It is now likely that Cambodia will also be accepted in the near future even in the face of the chaos caused by the recent coup-de-tat. The agenda behind ASEAN's latest move is to acquire a "unified South East Asia" by virtue of having all ten countries as members. The ASEAN states have long promoted the concept of "constructive engagement" which is, according to them, aimed at fostering the process of the transition from military dictatorship to civilian government in Burma. Amongst those who oppose the military dictatorship and the absence of the rule of law in Burma, this "constructive engagement" is seen as a cynical opportunity by the ASEAN countries to exploit the natural resources of Burma at the expense of the Burmese people. Singapore and Thailand have long told the European countries and those expatriate groups who oppose the dictatorship, that by trading with Burma, the country will be opened up, will expand economically and the people will naturally benefit. There is no expression of interest in beginning a democratic process in Burma from any of those states who support "constructive engagement". Again it is not really surprising that this is the case as those countries who support "constructive engagement" are only partial democracies themselves. It is little wonder then, that despite ASEAN's protests, activists abroad, the governments of the United States, Australia and most others of the world continue to charge ASEAN with exploiting the people of Burma. ASEAN in its determination to admit Burma is helping to keep the people of Burma in what some have called a "national prison", where slave labor, torture, corruption, and imprisonment without trial are common place. Membership into ASEAN has given SLORC a sense of security and will make them more arrogant and brutal than ever. With these generals in power, Burma will remain one of the eleven Most Underdeveloped Countries in the world. The Alliance of Japanese Diet Memb! ers Supporting Democracy in Burma have recently said that, "in light of the general election of 1990, principles applied to Official Development Agency, Japan has frozen development assistance to Burma": the USA, Europe and Australia have done the same. It should be noted here that ASEAN shall now have to bear full responsibility for SLORC's arrogant suppression of its own people because they accepted Burma into their grouping. The so-called regional Realpolitik is a major consideration in Suharto's move and this is the Realpolitik of authoritarianism. Suharto is increasingly worried about the pressures for democratization in Indonesia, which he sees as being influenced by the rising pressures for greater democracy throughout the region. Bringing in more non-democratic regimes would strengthen the authoritarian pole and give it the balance of power within ASEAN. The responsibility which will fall into the hands of the regional grouping is to urge the SLORC to leave its deceits at the door. SLORC has a long way to go before it earns its ASEAN spurs, and may well yet give the regional bloc cause for regret. ASEAN must now prove to the world that constructive engagement, which includes as an important component, Burma's ASEAN membership, can work for the people of the country not just for the benefit of the SLORC and the ruling elite. By admitting Burma as a member, ASEAN member nations have tak! en on an enormous responsibility which must be realized or they will face the wrath of the Western world. Lets not forget it is this same Western world that the ASEAN Member States so depend on for trade and investment. EU has told Rangoon in no uncertain terms that ASEAN membership does not translate into automatic status at the ongoing EU-Asian trade talks. EU is not about to take for granted all of ASEAN's members without some give on the dual demons of human rights abuses and political suppression. South East Asia's desire to counter-balance Chinese influence in the region is a main reason ASEAN decided to admit Burma. The real reason behind the decision is a more long-term outlook and involves concerns about the growing major regional power of China. One of the reasons ASEAN accepted Burma as a member is that it sees Beijing as a long-term threat to smaller nations in the region. ASEAN countries are worried about the long-term implications of China's power. And one of the things holding ASEAN together is a common desire to have a counterweight to China and to be strong so that China doesn't overwhelm them. That is part of the motivation to bring Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Burma into ASEAN ASEAN would never identify China publicly as an adversary. In fact, one of the major reasons for the creation of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) back in 1994 was to attempt to incorporate China into a larger security discussion arrangement. It was hoped that by bringing China into security discussion, somehow China's behavior could be moderated so that they would not openly threaten force to resolve its claims on South East Asian waters and territories. In fact it may well be that by including weak and corrupt governments into the ASEAN fold they, in fact weaken their position and make themselves more vulnerable to the threat of China. They most certainly have already lessened their credibility with Western and European nations by admitting despots. ASEAN should adopt a "more comprehensive" policy toward Burma after admitting the country. ASEAN can no longer employ "constructive engagement" with just the SLORC, it must expand that to include the democratic forces of the country. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said it was clear that the ASEAN policy of "constructive engagement" with SLORC was not working. She added that ASEAN should be constructively engaging with the National League for Democracy if it was sincere in its approach. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic governments have said admission of Burma into ASEAN is tantamount to legitimizing the SLORC which has been accused of widespread human rights violations. "We do not think constructive engagement has worked," Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said. "The fact that SLORC rejected ASEAN's call for dialogue proves this." If ASEAN is willing to recognize the elected representatives of Cambodia, logically, it should do the same for Burma. Malaysia's Foreign Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called on the Cambodian government under Hun Sen to ensure that the National Assembly and other democratic institutions in that country are not dissolved. However, how sad and unfortunate that Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has not used the occasion to call on the SLORC generals to hand over power to the National League for Democracy (NLD) under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi, in accordance with the democratic verdict of the Burmese people as expressed through the general election on the 27th of May 1990. If ASEAN had failed to convince Cambodia political forces to co-exist peacefully, how would the "constructive engagement" with Burma work? ASEAN leaders say that they will deal with the government of Burma regardless of whoever is in power. We also remember ASEAN foreign ministers unanimously say that only by "engaging", one can change the situation. Why do they not engage with the NLD and DASSK? ASEAN has NEVER insisted on the criteria that a member-government should be democratic nor does it abide by the criteria of non-usage of violence in maintaining power. ASEAN places economic priority over the values of human rights and democracy. If ASEAN is to stand up as a credible regional grouping in the world, it has to start developing a consistent human rights standard in its diplomatic dealings. ASEAN must be aware since Burma joined ASEAN, progressive and freedom-loving people in this region have a greater and more difficult task to struggle for democracy and human rights not only in Burma, but also in all of the ASEAN states. Granting ASEAN membership to SLORC is equivalent to giving it a license to kill. SLORC will become more arrogant because of its new found status and will increase the killing, rape, torture, drug production and widespread repression.

[Mr. Minn Aung Myint is the coordinator
of the Burma Office in Australia.].