Tue 10 Nov 2009
Filed under: ASEAN
WASHINGTON – US President Barrack Obama is meeting with all 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a summit in Singapore, despite its strained relationship with Myanmar.
National Security Council senior director for East Asian Affairs Jeffrey Bader said the meeting, which will happen on the sidelines of the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference on Nov. 15 in Singapore, will be a first between a US president and ASEAN leaders.
Bader said the country’s tense diplomatic relations with Myanmar under the Bush administration has prevented interaction with ASEAN as a whole.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
“The statement we’re trying to make here is that we’re not going to let the Burmese tail wag the ASEAN dog. We’re going to meet with all 10, and we’re not going to punish the other nine simply because Burma is in the room,” he said.
He said the meeting was not called for the purpose of a bilateral or a private conversation between the US and the military-run state.
For years, the US has imposed several economic sanctions against Myanmar for widespread violation of human rights, banning all imports, freezing the regime’s assets deposited in US banks, and imposing a visa ban.
The US demands the release of democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as a precondition for lifting some of the sanctions.
Deputy National Security adviser for strategic communications Ben Rhodes said Obama recognizes the importance of US relations with the regional bloc because he is the first US President with an Asia-Pacific orientation, having spent a large part of his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia.
“He understands that the future of our prosperity and our security is very much tied to this part of the world… and I think one of the central messages that he wants to send through this trip is that the United States intends to be a leader in this region in the 21st century on the full range of issues,” Rhodes said.