ASEM Summit in Beijing Opens

By WEI MOE

Burma is an issue on the agenda at the 7th Summit of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Beijing on October 24-25, but Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein will not attend the conference.

According to a press release, the summit is scheduled to discuss the current world economic outlook; global issues such as disaster relief, food security and safety; international and regional development including counter-terrorism, nuclear disarmament, Burma, the Korean Peninsular; trade and investment; and cultural and social dialogue.

The summit is being seen as an opportunity to talk with Chinese authorities about their obligation to ensure meaningful reform in Burma, said Debbie Stothard, coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network (Altsean).

The last ASEM Summit was in Helsinki in 2006. Before the summit in Finland’s capital, there were arguments among European countries whether to approve a visa for Burmese foreign minister Nyan Win to a European Union country.

Twenty-seven countries from the EU are taking part; 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, India, Japan, Mongolia, Pakistan and South Korea.

Burmese Premier Gen Thein Sein was visiting China before the summit began, but has since returned to Burma. The state-run, The New Light of Myanmar, reported on Monday that the head of the junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, welcomed Thein Sein back at the Naypidaw Airport. Thein Sein attended the 5th China-Asean Expo and the 5th China-Asean Business and Investment Summit in Nanning.

The Burmese premier met with Wen Jiabao’s deputy, Wang Qishan, during the trip.

“According to protocol, Gen Thein Sein should meet Wen Jiabao [China’s president]. I do not know why Gen Thein Sein could not meet Premier Wen,” said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political commentator in Thailand.

During the meeting with Wang Qishan, Thein Sein said that he believed China would continue to support the junta’s seven-step roadmap for “transforming the country into a peaceful and discipline flourishing democratic nation,” according to The New Light of Myanmar.