May 20 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union may ask China to pressure Myanmar’s military junta to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who faces five more years in detention after being held for 13 of the past 19 years, an EU commissioner said.

Suu Kyi, 63, went on trial two days ago, accused by the government of violating a house-arrest order for sheltering an American for two days. She was detained after her National League for Democracy won a landslide election victory in 1990, only to be denied power by the military in the country, formerly known as Burma.

The 27-nation EU, which outlaws weapons sales to Myanmar, curbs financing for its state-run companies and won’t allow junta leaders to visit Europe, wants Asian powers such as China and India to pressure Myanmar’s ruling generals to free Suu Kyi. EU officials may ask their Chinese counterparts including Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to use their influence with Myanmar’s junta when they meet to discuss EU-China ties today in Prague.

“We have to reinforce the dialogue with Burma’s neighbors,” said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU’s external relations commissioner who will participate in the summit. “It should at least be always a discussion point with China, with India and with others.” The EU is divided over whether to expand sanctions against Myanmar’s military regime.

Dalai Lama

The annual EU-China meeting was originally set to take place last December but was canceled by China because French President Nicholas Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader. While relations between the EU and China have warmed since then, the reaction in Asia to Suu Kyi’s trial has been muted so far and the bloc’s demands for the Chinese government to pressure Myanmar may fall on deaf ears.

“Myanmar’s issue should be decided by the people of Myanmar,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters in Beijing yesterday. “As a neighbor of Myanmar, we hope that relevant parties in Myanmar can realize reconciliation, stability and development through dialogue.”

China may be more receptive to the EU’s entreaties than it acknowledges publicly and European officials believe the Chinese government can make inroads with Myanmar’s leaders, said Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels.

‘Matter of Religion’

“It’s one of the main things that could happen at the summit,” Erixon said by phone. “Her imprisonment is almost a matter of religion in Europe. This is a big issue, and it’s also an issue where Europe believes they can get China to do things.”

Opposition activists say the junta is looking for a legal pretext to keep Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in detention when her current house-arrest order expires in less than two weeks. They want China, India and the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar, to use their economic influence to pressure the junta.

The fresh charges against Suu Kyi, daughter of independence leader General Aung San, may undermine Myanmar’s ruling generals just as they’re pressing the U.S. and Europe to lift economic sanctions and provide debt relief. The country, one of Southeast Asia’s richest nations in the early 1960s and now its poorest, has languished under military rule for nearly 47 years.

The U.S. imposed sanctions on Myanmar in 1997, prohibiting investment in the country, and President George W. Bush tightened the restrictions during his eight years in office. New York-based Human Rights Watch says the junta has stepped up the prosecution of dissidents in an effort to crush anti-government groups before elections scheduled for next year.

‘Worrying, Unacceptable’

“The situation of Aung San Suu Kyi is very worrying and unacceptable,” Luc Chatel, a spokesman for the French government, told reporters in Paris. “One can’t imagine that elections that are due to take place next year may occur while the main political opponent is arrested,” he said, adding that Sarkozy told the Cabinet earlier today he’s worried about the situation in Myanmar.

Along with the Myanmar issue, the EU and China will also present their cases on a Copenhagen climate deal, though no changes are expected in either side’s position. They will also sign partnership agreements on research and technology and a memorandum of understanding on a 10 million-euro ($14 million) clean-energy facility for China.

‘Crucial Partner’

“China is a crucial partner in international efforts to counter global challenges, such as the economic and financial crisis and climate change,” European Commission President Jose Barroso said before the summit.

At high-level talks in Brussels earlier this month, EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan agreed that trade and investment will lead the way to economic recovery. Trade volume between the two countries grew to more than 326 billion euros last year, according to the commission, the EU’s executive arm, and the bloc is the top destination for exports of Chinese goods such as shoes and textiles.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer M. Freedman in Prague at jfreedman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 20, 2009 09:12 EDT