A group of Burmese pro-democracy activists urged Japan’s new Deputy Foreign Minister Tesuro Fukuyama at a meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday to increase pressure on Burma’s military government to enter into dialogue with their country’s opposition.
According to a trade union association leader who attended the meeting, the group also appealed to Japan’s Foreign Ministry to put forward a plan for Burma at the UN Security Council.
The appeals were contained in a presentation by a leader of the Burmese group, Maung Maung, the general-secretary of the National Council of Union of Burma.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry official told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that Maung Maung informed Fukuyama how Burmese activists believed democratic change could be brought about in their country.
“Our basic policy stand is to promote democracy in Burma,” the official said. “This is why our deputy foreign minister hosted the meeting with Maung Maung, to listen to his view s on democratization in Burma.”
The meeting in Tokyo was the first between Japan’s new deputy foreign minister and Burmese democracy activists in Japan.
Chihiro Ikusawa, executive director of the International Department of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, who participated in the meeting, reported that apart from appealing for increased pressure on the Burmese regime by the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Maung Maung proposed that Japan should send a permanent envoy to Burma to observe the 2010 election.
Japan’s new government has asked the Burmese government to ensure a free and fair election in 2010, and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has asked Burmese foreign minister Nyan Win to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, before the poll.
Earlier this month, Japan embassy officials in Rangoon held a meeting with Win Tin, an executive member of the opposition National League for Democracy.
The newly elected Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is seen to be taking a more active role in promoting democratization in Burma. The DPJ is believed to be a strong supporter of the Burmese democracy movement, unlike its predecessor, the Liberal Democratic Party, which rarely criticized the Burmese junta.
While pressing for democratic change, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it has no plans to alter its policy of direct engagement with the Burmese regime. It has also said that it supports the recently revised US policy, which now combines engagement with continued economic sanctions.
Japan is one of Burma’s main donor nations. Between 1999 and 2006, it provided Burma with more than US $2.96 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA), according to Japanese officials.
However, Tokyo temporarily stopped its ODA to Burma after the 2007 Saffron Revolution, when a Japanese journalist, Kenji Nagai, was killed by security forces.
Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had a phone conversation with Suu Kyi when she was released from house arrest in 2002.
When Suu Kyi was sentenced to a further eighteen months house arrest earlier this year, the Japanese Foreign Minister said his government was deeply disappointed and called on the regime to release her and all other political prisoners.
According to a trade union association leader who attended the meeting, the group also appealed to Japan’s Foreign Ministry to put forward a plan for Burma at the UN Security Council.
The appeals were contained in a presentation by a leader of the Burmese group, Maung Maung, the general-secretary of the National Council of Union of Burma.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry official told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that Maung Maung informed Fukuyama how Burmese activists believed democratic change could be brought about in their country.
“Our basic policy stand is to promote democracy in Burma,” the official said. “This is why our deputy foreign minister hosted the meeting with Maung Maung, to listen to his view s on democratization in Burma.”
The meeting in Tokyo was the first between Japan’s new deputy foreign minister and Burmese democracy activists in Japan.
Chihiro Ikusawa, executive director of the International Department of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, who participated in the meeting, reported that apart from appealing for increased pressure on the Burmese regime by the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Maung Maung proposed that Japan should send a permanent envoy to Burma to observe the 2010 election.
Japan’s new government has asked the Burmese government to ensure a free and fair election in 2010, and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has asked Burmese foreign minister Nyan Win to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, before the poll.
Earlier this month, Japan embassy officials in Rangoon held a meeting with Win Tin, an executive member of the opposition National League for Democracy.
The newly elected Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is seen to be taking a more active role in promoting democratization in Burma. The DPJ is believed to be a strong supporter of the Burmese democracy movement, unlike its predecessor, the Liberal Democratic Party, which rarely criticized the Burmese junta.
While pressing for democratic change, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it has no plans to alter its policy of direct engagement with the Burmese regime. It has also said that it supports the recently revised US policy, which now combines engagement with continued economic sanctions.
Japan is one of Burma’s main donor nations. Between 1999 and 2006, it provided Burma with more than US $2.96 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA), according to Japanese officials.
However, Tokyo temporarily stopped its ODA to Burma after the 2007 Saffron Revolution, when a Japanese journalist, Kenji Nagai, was killed by security forces.
Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had a phone conversation with Suu Kyi when she was released from house arrest in 2002.
When Suu Kyi was sentenced to a further eighteen months house arrest earlier this year, the Japanese Foreign Minister said his government was deeply disappointed and called on the regime to release her and all other political prisoners.
