Rights group says EU going soft on China, Myanmar

BRUSSELS, Sep 7 (Reuters) A leading human rights group accused the European Union of treating China and Myanmar's rights situations as an ''afterthought'' for its summits with Asian countries at the weekend.

''It's ridiculous that the EU is not going to put human rights right up on the agenda; it's a complete sell-out,'' Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, told Reuters.

''On China we are extremely disappointed that they can treat human rights as an afterthought when it should be central to their relationship. It's really inexplicable given that the situation in China is deteriorating rapidly.'' Adams also accused the EU of backing away from a visa ban on top officials from Myanmar by inviting the military-ruled country to attend the September 10-11 summit in Helsinki with Asian states, which follows Saturday's EU summit with China.

''Again the EU is taking the soft option; the Burmese have done nothing to encourage a concession, in fact quite the contrary.

''The EU is trying to act like there isn't really a problem,'' Adams said, adding that this was ironic when pressure on Myanmar was growing in the Association of South East Asian Nations, of which the country is a member.

Adams referred to remarks by Finnish ambassador to China Antti Kuosmanen, who was quoted on Sunday by AFP news agency as saying he did not expect rights to be ''a dominating point'' in Saturday's China summit.

''You have the arrest and detention of critics and really a climate of fear in Beijing for activists, lawyers, journalists,'' he said. ''This is exactly the time they should be telling the Chinese leadership it's impossible to have business as usual.'' Adams said items low on summit agendas sometimes failed to get mentioned, but officials from Finland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said this would not be the case.

''It is going to be brought up at the meeting,'' said Sanna Kangasharju, spokeswoman for Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.

Vanhanen was asked at a news conference in Helsinki if rights in China would be discussed, and replied: ''There is a working dinner at the meeting for which issues like these fit.'' Yesterday, Finland condemned the ''appalling'' state of human rights in Myanmar but defended the invitation, saying it was a chance to press Yangon to change.

The military has controlled Myanmar, formerly called Burma, in various guises since 1962 and ignored a 1990 landslide election victory by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

She has been in prison or under house arrest since May 2003, and many of her supporters have been jailed.

REUTERS SP MIR RAI2128