Asia Pacific News
China infuriated by UN move to examine Myanmar concerns
Posted: 16 September 2006 0433 hrs
UNITED NATIONS : Despite China's objections, the Security Council
backed a US proposal to put the issue of political repression and
human rights violations in Myanmar on its formal agenda.
Ten council members -- including the United States, Britain and
France -- voted for the motion to put military-ruled Myanmar on the
agenda. China, Russia, Qatar and Congo voted against, with Tanzania
abstaining.
As this involved only a procedural matter, a majority of nine votes
was required for the motion to be adopted. The five permanent
members of the council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the
United States -- can use their right of veto only on substantive
matters.
"The United States and other members of the Security Council are
concerned about the deteriorating situation in Myanmar," US
Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said in an annex to a letter to
his Greek counterpart Adamantios Vassilakis, the current council
president.
"These conditions threaten to have a destabilizing impact on the
region. Therefore we request that the situation in Myanmar . . . be
placed on the Council's agenda, and that a senior official of the
Secretariat brief member states in a meeting of the Security
Council on this situation and its implications for international
peace and security," he added.
The United States has been pressing for several months for Myanmar
to be put on the council's agenda, arguing that drug trafficking,
the mounting numbers of refugees, human rights abuses and the
growth of AIDS cases in the Asian nation represents a threat to
international peace and security.
But Friday's vote infuriated China, with its UN ambassador Wang
Guangya slamming what he called unwarranted interference.
"This means that all countries, any country, that faces similar
issues should all be inscribed on the agenda of this council," Wang
told the council. "This is preposterous."
Beijing is Myanmar's staunchest international ally and a major main
trading partner.
Wang said that neither Myanmar's neighbours nor most countries in
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) consider "the
situation in Myanmar as being any threat to regional peace and
security."
"Without seeking the consent of the country in question and without
a request put forward by any country in the region, some countries
as far away as across the oceans harbour the belief that the
situation in Myanmar is indeed a threat to international peace and
security, this itself represents at least a far cry from the
reality."
Putting Myanmar on the Security Council agenda starts a process
that will allow for regular formal reports by the UN secretariat to
be made on developments in Myanmar.
US First Lady Laura Bush is to host talks on the "humanitarian
crisis" in Myanmar during next week's UN general assembly.
Bush will host a roundtable discussion on Myanmar, formerly known
as Burma, on September 19, according to her staff, who said the
United Nations, US government and non-governmental organizations
would be represented.
In a statement, Bush's office said she hoped to "raise awareness of
the humanitarian crisis in Burma and to help gain support for a
US-sponsored UN Security resolution to call out Burma for political
and human rights violations."
Washington has led efforts to force Yangon to ease human rights
concerns, notably release democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who
has been under house arrest for most of the past 17 years.
Myanmar in May extended her detention for another year, defying an
international outcry demanding freedom for the 61-year-old Nobel
peace laureate.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won 1990
elections but was never allowed to rule. Its offices have been shut
down by the government, which has also locked up many other party
members.
The US administration has called for the release of Aung San Suu
Kyi and other political prisoners.
It has also called on the military government to take steps to end
"ethnic violence" against the Karen minority and "to address
HIV/AIDS and drugs and human trafficking."
- AFP/ls/ir
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/230698/1/.html
