Baker Calls for Global Push for Democracy in Myanmar : Asia: Regional officials demur. They call this too confrontational and prefer a subtler approach to the military regime.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III on Sunday called for strong international action to bring democracy to Myanmar, but he ran into resistance from Southeast Asian officials who said they favor a conciliatory attitude toward its military regime.

It was the latest in a recent series of disagreements between Western and Asian governments on questions of human rights. Asian officials contend that the United States and its European allies are too tough, outspoken and confrontational in their efforts to end political repression and that it is better to work quietly behind the scenes to bring about change.

Myanmar’s regime, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Committee, has refused to honor the results of a 1990 election in which its opponents won a landslide victory. The main opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, is under house arrest, and the nation’s military intelligence chief said last month that she is “still too dangerous to be left unrestricted.”

Appearing Sunday before a meeting of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Baker pleaded with Southeast Asian leaders to do whatever they can to bring about changes in Myanmar’s repressive regime.

“We do not see much progress on the human rights front, and we see zero progress toward democracy,” the secretary of state said. “At some point, I think the military leadership in Burma (Myanmar’s former name) has got to be called on with respect to their continuing refusal to permit democracy to be implemented.

” . . . Collectively, our message to the Burmese military authorities must be loud and clear: Release all political prisoners immediately and begin a genuine dialogue aimed at rapidly transferring power to a democratically elected government.”

But Baker’s arguments seemed to fall upon deaf ears.

“I think (the situation in Myanmar) is going in the right direction,” Thailand’s Foreign Minister Arsa Sarasin said Sunday. “ . . . We do believe we should engage (Myanmar’s leaders) in order to encourage them to move in a positive direction.”

Arsa acknowledged that, despite Myanmar’s repressive policies, the ASEAN governments have even considered letting the nation’s government take the first step toward membership in their organization. The current members of ASEAN include Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei.

Baker was scornful of the idea of letting Myanmar’s regime take part in ASEAN, even as a non-voting observer. “We do not think (membership) is warranted,” he told a press conference. “Frankly, if that step were taken, we (the United States) would be underwhelmed.”

Officials in Southeast Asian countries insist that it is useless to criticize Myanmar because its military regime will just ignore the international condemnation.

“There is little point in isolating Burma, because Burma is used to isolation,” Philippine Undersecretary of State Romualdo Ong told reporters Friday. “They have been isolated for years.”

One reason Southeast Asian officials are hesitant about criticizing Myanmar is that many of their own governments are vulnerable to criticism on issues of human rights and democracy. Thailand’s armed forces recently carried out a bloody crackdown on democracy demonstrations, and Indonesia’s military forces have killed scores of protesters in East Timor.

Some Asian officials say Western complaints about human rights problems amount to interference in a country’s internal affairs.

The Bush Administration sought to overcome this argument by noting that Myanmar is becoming what Baker called “a source of potential instability to its neighbors.” Baker pointed out that more than 270,000 refugees have fled across the border to Bangladesh and another 70,000 to Thailand.

Speaking of Myanmar’s refugees, another Administration official said, “You really have to be concerned about your physical safety to become a refugee to Bangladesh.” One of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh has had great difficulty feeding and housing the refugees.

Baker appeared before the ASEAN foreign ministers and at a press conference here on the final day of an eight-day trip around the world, most of it devoted to his effort to get Mideast peace negotiations restarted. He is scheduled to return to Washington today.