Mizzima was able to speak recently with the National Unity Government’s (NUG) Foreign Minister U Moe Zaw Oo, this is what was discussed.
MZM: May I know the comments from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Unity Government on the remarks of the next ASEAN chair Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen. According to the international media, the prime minister said he will visit Myanmar and meet with the chairman of Myanmar Military council because Myanmar is a member in ASEAN and has the right to attend ASEAN meetings.
U Moe Zaw Oo: Cambodian Prime Minister has officially taken over the rotating ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) presidency from Brunei and duties of the chairman of ASEAN will start from January next year. As we all know people’s uprising in Myanmar is a very important case within ASEAN. Brunei, the former chairman of ASEAN has not been able to take responsibility for this. Cambodia may have the intention to try and find a solution. I assume this is a good intention. However, if they want to try and find a solution, they need to know everything about the Military Council as the former ASEAN chairman was deceived by various tricks of the junta. As we all know, the Military chairman attended the ASEAN meeting but he did not follow any rules agreed at the meeting. And now, he said that he could not accept and follow the dialogue according to his last conference. Thus, they should carefully consider the intentions of the Myanmar Military council. When Cambodia’s Prime Minister goes and meets with them, he must be careful not to give legitimacy to them. While the military council is not Myanmar's legitimate government, such a visit of the Prime Minister level could be translated as a recognition of some legitimacy. We cannot accept that. Cambodia should reconsider the plan. A special envoy to deal with Myanmar issues [by ASEAN] has been appointed. The role of the special envoy remains the same and remains unchanged. Cambodia also needs to respect the mandate of the special envoy. Another point is that ASEAN is a union comprising ten member countries, and thus, it is necessary to abide by the decisions of all ten countries. For example, there have recently been resolutions for Myanmar called a special session in October and so Cambodia needs to follow and respect those resolutions. As a chairman of ASEAN, Cambodia cannot do what it wants to do. He has to cooperate with other ASEAN countries. Thus, we want to say that the Prime Minister of Cambodia has a responsibility to respect the decisions of other countries.
MZM: As you said, ASEAN did not invite the chairman of the military council to the ASEAN summit last October. Moreover, the military council was not invited to the China-ASEAN talks or the EU-ASEAN talks. While such absence of recognition was shown by most, what will be the main reasons that Cambodia’s Prime Minister is now saying he would go and meet with the Myanmar Military chairman against the policies of the ASEAN member countries?
U Moe Zaw Oo: Among ASEAN countries, as you know, some are authoritarian countries. Cambodia also has lacking standards when it comes to the will of the people and elections. There are various speculations about what would happen when Cambodia takes over the ASEAN leadership. My point of view is that Cambodia has the responsibility to cooperate and make decisions together with other countries concerning ASEAN issues. On the other hand, there may be issues Cambodia wants to try and solve, but it must understand the current situation and respect the decisions of other ASEAN countries.
Otherwise, no matter how hard they try, the military council will use these attempts to manipulate and exploit these attempts, and the results will be disappointing.
MZM: According to what you have explained, may I know your comments on the concerns if the military gets more recognition in ASEAN and what we need to watch closely?
U Moe Zaw Oo: We are following and watching that issue closely. There are also some ASEAN member countries who support us (NUG). We have also contacted these countries and they are aware of the current situation. We understand that the rest of the allied countries are also watching. As we all know, ASEAN has to work in unity and consensus, thus, there is a lot of disagreement in ASEAN, regarding the current situation in Myanmar. Inconsistencies are not good for ASEAN. I want to say that Cambodia has many responsibilities as a Chairman to prevent the situation from getting worse.
MZM: It is a time that various organizations and countries are pushing ASEAN to deal with the Myanmar issue more carefully. May I know your opinions if Cambodia's decision will bring more frustration towards ASEAN’s role and performance and if Myanmar's situation will become direr?
U Moe Zaw Oo: Recently, peaceful anti-coup protesters were killed by ramming military truck [into them]. Protesters are also being chased with guns. It is clear how serious these incidents need to be and how serious the human rights abuses are. Countries around the world, including the United Nations, have criticized these actions of the junta, saying it is not civilized. The first point of the ASEAN five-point consensus is to end violence. But, the violence has not stopped and is being perpetuated even in the cities in broad daylight. In addition, our leaders, President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi were imprisoned on unspecified charges. These are not positive changes. We do not see any progress. We have to be very careful about showing any signs to legitimate the military council when we have not seen any progress. In particular, as a chairman of ASEAN, I would like to say that he should carefully consider the current situations and need to pay respect and adherence to ASEAN resolutions.
MZM: Will there be Chinese support from behind? Do you think that with the support of China, the Cambodian Prime Minister was able to make this decision about Myanmar with such courage? What do you think?
U Moe Zaw Oo: There are different countries' influences on ASEAN member countries. Some big countries have strong relationships with some countries in ASEAN. But, I think the important thing is that the influence of other big countries should be used positively. For example, I have no comment if he tries to find a solution to solve our country's issues with the help of any other big countries such as China, the United States and other EU countries. We just need help to coordinate and strengthen the current involvement of ASEAN to solve the problem. I just want to say that it should not have the kind of influence that complicates the current situation further.
MZM: Does the National Unity Government have any contact with Cambodia, chairman of the rotating ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly? Is there any plan for the NUG to communicate with Cambodia’s Prime Minister about his plans?
U Moe Zaw Oo: We are always trying to connect and work with all ASEAN countries. There are currently no direct talks with Cambodia. So what I want to say here at the same time is that if Cambodia becomes the chairman of ASEAN, it has an obligation to communicate with Myanmar’s official government, NUG, Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and other ethnic armed groups from Myanmar because one of the five points of the ASEAN Common Agreement is to engage with all stakeholders. If Cambodia wants to communicate with all of us, we are always ready to talk and meet with Cambodia.
