Myanmar skips ASEAN summit after its military ruler shut out

3 years ago 211

KUALA LUMPUR – Southeast Asian leaders connected Tuesday began their yearly acme without Myanmar, amid a diplomatic standoff implicit the military-ruled nation's exclusion from the group's meetings.

Myanmar skipped the acme successful protestation aft the determination bloc — the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known arsenic ASEAN — unopen retired its apical wide from its meetings.

The group's refusal to let Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing to correspond Myanmar astatine the acme was its harshest rebuke yet of the country's subject rulers since the generals ousted civilian person Aung San Suu Kyi successful February.

Brunei, who is this year’s seat of the 10-member bloc, invited Myanmar’s highest-ranking seasoned diplomat, Chan Aye, arsenic a “non-political” typical but she didn’t be the meeting, 2 diplomats said. The diplomats requested anonymity arsenic they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry vowed precocious Monday to situation ASEAN’s unprecedented determination to downgrade its information successful the three-day virtual summit, which is being held by video owed to coronavirus concerns. The ministry said it volition lone judge practice by the country's apical general, who heads its authorities and ruling subject council, oregon a ministerial-level representative.

The talks volition beryllium joined by different satellite leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of China and Russia, and are expected to spotlight Myanmar’s worsening crisis, arsenic good arsenic determination information and economical issues.

Biden’s information volition beryllium the archetypal clip since 2017 that a U.S. person has attended the ASEAN summit.

The subject takeover successful Myanmar triggered wide protests and led to a convulsive crackdown by authorities. Almost 1,200 civilians are estimated to person been killed by information forces, though the authorities has claimed a little decease toll.

ASEAN’s sanctioning of Myanmar marked a displacement from the bloc's bedrock principles of non-interference successful each other’s home affairs and determination by consensus. Myanmar cited the usurpation of those principles — enshrined successful the group’s charter — erstwhile it rejected ASEAN's prohibition connected its subject person from the summit.

Myanmar's lack astatine the acme followed the refusal of its subject leaders to let the bloc's envoy, Brunei Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof, to conscionable with Suu Kyi and different civilian leaders detained since the subject takeover.

ASEAN leaders called for an contiguous extremity to unit successful Myanmar successful an exigency gathering successful April and outlined a program for dialog betwixt some civilian and subject figures to beryllium mediated by the bloc's envoy. Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing attended the meeting.

ASEAN leaders are owed to clasp talks with their counterparts from China, South Korea and the U.S. aboriginal Tuesday.

Ahead of the talks, a elder U.S. authoritative held a virtual gathering with 2 representatives of Myanmar's governmental absorption National Unity Government, which views itself arsenic a shadiness authorities and had earlier sought to be the ASEAN summit.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan “underscored U.S. continued enactment for the pro-democracy movement" successful Myanmar during Monday's meeting.

Sullivan expressed interest implicit the military’s brutal unit and said Washington volition proceed to question the merchandise of each those “unjustly detained," including salient pro-democracy activistic Ko Jimmy, who was the latest to beryllium held during a raid Saturday.

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Associated Press writer Grant Peck successful Bangkok contributed to this report.

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