Regional News
Senior Official Pledges Easing of Internet, Media Curbs, Dialogue With Dissident Suu Kyi Will Be Rewarded
BANGKOK—A senior U.S. official described political overhauls under way in Myanmar as a “dramatic development” and pledged Washington would respond favorably to them, in the latest sign of thawing relations between the two countries.
Speaking at a forum in Bangkok on U.S. engagement in Asia, Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said discussions among the U.S., Europe and Asian countries over Myanmar have “stepped up very, very substantially” in recent months amid rising hopes the secretive Southeast Asian nation could be embarking on its most extensive effort at overhauls in more than a decade.
Among other steps, Myanmar’s government has eased curbs on the Internet, relaxed restrictions on the media, and launched what Mr. Campbell described as a “very consequential” dialogue with dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from more than seven years of house arrest last year. The government has also promised to take other steps soon, including a possible release of hundreds of political prisoners whose incarceration has long bedeviled relations between Myanmar and the West.
On Tuesday, the new government-appointed human rights body urged the country’s president to release “prisoners of conscience” in a letter published in state media, Reuters reported.
“Compared to what we have experienced in the past, there are clearly changes afoot,” Mr. Campbell said. “The United States is prepared to match the steps that have been taken and we’re in the process” of determining how to proceed, he said.
He cautioned, however, that changes in Myanmar were in the “early” stages and that U.S. officials still had “enduring concerns” over a range of issues in the country, including unconfirmed reports that Myanmar’s government is engaged in a covert nuclear-proliferation program with North Korea, which Myanmar officials deny. He declined to provide specifics on steps under consideration by the U.S., which maintains strict economic sanctions against Myanmar, because “we are right in the midst” of discussions, he said.
It is highly unlikely the U.S. would ease sanctions, which include restrictions on U.S. investments in the resource-rich Southeast Asian nation, anytime soon. U.S. officials have laid out a number of preconditions that must be met before sanctions can be removed, and several—including more transparency in Myanmar’s dealings with North Korea and proof that human-rights abuses involving ethnic minorities along the country’s borders with China and Thailand are ending—haven’t yet been met.
But the U.S. could take other steps, including supporting calls for the World Bank and other multilateral institutions to return to Myanmar after breaking off most relations with its government years ago. Myanmar is currently seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund to help overhaul its complex foreign-exchange system, which involves multiple exchange rates and has deterred foreign investment, but any large-scale assistance would likely need U.S. backing.
The U.S. has already expanded its dialogue with senior Myanmar officials, including a rare meeting with the country’s foreign minister in Washington late last month.
Another key step sought by Myanmar authorities is backing for its bid to occupy the chairman’s seat in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a 10-nation regional grouping whose importance is rising as the U.S. seeks to expand alliances in the region to counter China’s rising power. Myanmar wants to take over the rotating chairman’s role in 2014, but some regional governments have opposed the request because of fears it would upset the U.S. and other Western trading partners.
The U.S. could also make other conciliatory moves such as increasing development aid or agreeing to refer to the country by the government’s preferred name of Myanmar rather than using Burma—a throwback to British colonial days that is viewed as an insult to the government’s leaders.
Mr. Campbell’s remarks were the strongest sign yet that U.S. officials take recent signs of change in Myanmar seriously, despite longstanding skepticism of the country’s government. But they also highlighted a growing policy dilemma for U.S. officials, who want to encourage more changes in Myanmar without moving too quickly to reward a military-backed government that is still being accused of widespread human-rights abuses. The government came to power after an election held last year that U.S. officials have said was rife with abuses, and it remains stocked with current and former soldiers linked to the harsh military regime that controlled Myanmar in various guises since 1962.
Many dissidents remain skeptical of the government’s motives and doubt the latest changes will be long-lasting. Although activists generally acknowledge the pace of change in Myanmar is quickening, they say it remains one of the world’s most repressive states, and many are pressing U.S. officials to hold off on major concessions until the new government has a longer track record. Myanmar leaders passed other overhauls in the 1990s, mainly to open up the economy to more Asian investment, only to crack down hard on dissidents in the years that followed.
U.S. officials are tantalized, though, by growing signs that Myanmar’s government may be looking for ways to broaden its base of support beyond its traditional heavy reliance on China, which some analysts say suggests it may be willing change its ways to win favor with the West.
Although China has emerged as Myanmar’s most important strategic partner in recent years with a slew of massive investments in the country, its growing influence has triggered deep resentment among everyday residents, many of whom fear China is out to cart away Myanmar’s resources. Late last month, Myanmar suspended construction of a $3.6 billion, Chinese-backed hydroelectric dam that would have supplied power to China, largely to placate a rising groundswell of opposition to the project across the country. China and Myanmar pledged to settle their differences over the dam at a meeting on Monday between the two countries’ foreign ministers in Beijing, Xinhua news agency reported.
Making matters more difficult for U.S. officials is uncertainty over who is making decisions in Myanmar. The new president, former military commander Thein Sein, is widely seen as a reformer, but it is unknown whether former strongman Senior Gen. Than Shwe still plays a role in setting policy after appearing to retire this year. The internal political process “is still in many ways a mystery to us,” Mr. Campbell said.
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By: A WSJ Staff Reporter
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 11, 2011
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