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View all search resultsASEAN alienates Myanmar junta chief
Bloc takes strong stand after junta rebuffs requests that special envoy meet with ‘all stakeholders’
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M
yanmar’s junta chief will be excluded from an upcoming ASEAN summit, the regional group said on Saturday, a rare rebuke as concerns rise over the military government’s commitment to defusing the country’s bloody crisis.
Foreign ministers from ASEAN agreed at an emergency meeting late on Friday that a “nonpolitical representative” for Myanmar would be invited to the Oct. 26 to 28 summit, current ASEAN chair Brunei said in a statement. The decision effectively excluded junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.
The Myanmar junta slammed the decision on Saturday evening, accusing ASEAN of breaching its policy of noninterference in the domestic affairs of member states.
“Myanmar is extremely disappointed and strongly objects to the outcomes of the emergency foreign ministers meeting, as the discussions and decision on Myanmar’s representation issue were done without consensus and were against the objectives of ASEAN,” the Myanmar Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, junta spokesman brigadier general Zaw Min Tun told the BBC Burmese section that “interference” from non-ASEAN countries had also been a factor.
He seized on talks between United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and ASEAN special envoy, Brunei’s Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof, ahead of the meeting and also singled out European Union pressure.
The bloc, widely criticized as a toothless organization, took the strong stand after the junta rebuffed requests that a special envoy meet with “all stakeholders” in Myanmar – a phrase seen to include ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
