Asean Invites Myanmar Diplomat to Summit in Place of Junta Chief
Asean Invites Myanmar Diplomat to Summit in Place of Junta Chief
(Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s government said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has invited a senior diplomat to attend its annual summit on Tuesday in place of military leader Min Aung Hlaing who was excluded over the worsening civil conflict in the country.
The regional bloc asked Chan Aye, permanent secretary in the junta’s foreign ministry, to attend the Asean virtual summit as a non-political representative, though the Myanmar government hasn’t decided whether to send him, regime spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun said.
“Some Asean countries, not all, violate the Asean charter and don’t place us at the same level,” he said. “For us, attending a meeting that doesn’t place us at the same level with others is like an assault to the sovereignty of our nation. That is why we are not sure if we’ll attend yet.”
“Given that it’s a summit for state leaders, they should invite the state leader,” he added.
Top regional diplomats earlier this month agreed to exclude Min Aung Hlaing from the Southeast Asian summit on Oct. 26-28 in Brunei -- a rare and decisive move to hold the regime accountable for the worsening domestic situation since it seized the government in a coup back in February.
World leaders such as U.S. President Joe Biden are set to attend the virtual summit along with China’s premier Li Keqiang.
The military government had made insufficient progress on an agreement struck with Asean in April that included stopping violence, the bloc said. Instead, it planned to extend an invitation to a “non-political” representative.
Asean didn’t immediately comment on the invitation extended to the Myanmar diplomat. Earlier on Monday, Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN, said the bloc was closely following the current developments in Myanmar, “which will have a spillover effect on the region.”
“It’s very important that we stabilize the situation there and work closely with every stakeholder in Myanmar,” he said at a panel discussion leading up to the summit.
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