|
 CEBU, Philippines (AP) - Myanmar's foreign minister on Saturday dismissed international calls that his country be barred from holding ASEAN's prestigious chairmanship unless it moves rapidly toward democracy and ends human rights abuses.
Military-ruled Myanmar is due to take the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year, and foreign ministers of the member nations gathered Saturday for an annual meeting expected to focus on the issue.
"That is their attitude. It is not ours. We can decide ourselves because we are an independent country," Nyan Win said of opposition to Myanmar, adding that the chairmanship of the regional trade bloc "is our responsibility."
|