MALAYSIA: ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS AND WESTERN FOREIGN MINISTERS DEBATE SECURITY ISSUES AND HUMAN RIGHTS AT ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM (ARF)

Record ID: 343159

  • Title: MALAYSIA: ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS AND WESTERN FOREIGN MINISTERS DEBATE SECURITY ISSUES AND HUMAN RIGHTS AT ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM (ARF)
  • Date: 27th July 1997
  • Summary: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (JULY 27, 1997) (RTV) 1. MV MYANMAR (BURMA) FOREIGN MINISTER U OHN GYAW ARRIVES 0.10 2. SLV CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER QIAN QICHEN ARRIVES 0.16 3. MV SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER YOO CHONG-HA ARRIVES 0.26 4. MV JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER YUKIHIKO IKEDA GREETS MALAYSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ABDULLAH BADAWI AND
  • Embargoed: 11th August 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Reuters ID: LVAD4TGV6NHIF3FAKAU81MAHRKNR
  • Story Text: - INTRO: In Malaysia, twenty-one foreign ministers from Asian and Western nations have debated Asian security issues including human rights in Burma and diplomatic efforts to settle Cambodia's latest conflict.

    The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), being held in a hotel at a water theme park called Sunway Lagoon in Kuala Lumpur, was delayed for about a half-hour on Sunday (July 27) as the ministers sorted out their seating arrangements.

    The two newest members of ARF, Burma and Laos, were seated on either side of the conference chairman, Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi.

    The two countries were admitted last week as the newest members of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), which also groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

    Western countries, led by the United States and the European Union, had lobbied hard against admitting Burma because of its human rights record and crackdown on a pro-democracy movement led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

    U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Saturday urged ASEAN to support Suu Kyi.

    The ministers were also expected to discuss an unfolding diplomatic initiative to settle the latest conflict in Cambodia, which plunged into turmoil after strongman Hun Sen overthrew First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh.

    The forum will also delve into next week's Korean peace talks in New York.

    Russian Foreign Minister Evgeny Primakov in an opening statement to the ARF meeting said the most pressing problem in the region was tension on the Korean peninsula and called for the two Koreas to resume a dialogue.

    The ARF meeting is also tackling thorny trade issues.

    Western nations are urging ASEAN's support for a global financial services agreement this year. They are also seeking support for agreements that would provide greater transparency in awarding government contracts, outlaw corruption and bribery and give foreign investors the same rights as local players.

    ASEAN, for its part, is expected to express concern over Western moves to link trade with human rights issues, particularly over agreements that would set standards for labour and worker rights.


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