US President Barack Obama yesterday offered Myanmar the prospect of better ties with Washington if it pursued democratic reform and freed political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Obama will be in the same room as the Myanmar prime minister when the ASEAN leaders hold their first meeting with a US president in Singapore today. Obama has no intention of speaking directly to Lieutenant-General Thein Sein, US officials have said.
The Obama administration has said it is pursuing deeper engagement with the military government in Myanmar and this month sent its highest-level delegation to the country in 14 years.
In a speech at the start of a four-nation tour of Asia in Tokyo, Obama said neither US sanctions nor engagement by other nations had succeeded in improving the lives of Myanmar’s people.
“So we are now communicating directly with the leadership to make it clear that existing sanctions will remain until there are concrete steps toward democratic reform,” Obama said.
“We support a Burma [Myanmar’s former name] that is unified, peaceful, prosperous and democratic. And as Burma moves in that direction, a better relationship with the United States is possible,” he said.
Obama said the specific steps that were needed were the release of all political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, and a genuine dialogue between the government and the political opposition.
“That is how a government in Burma will be able to respond to the needs of its people. That is the path that will bring Burma true security and prosperity,” Obama said.
Obama had no plans for direct talks with Myanmar’s leaders during his meeting with ASEAN today, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week, while adding that the opportunity might arise for her or Obama to meet the regime’s officials. Obama’s meeting with ASEAN leaders takes place on the sidelines of a weekend summit of the APEC forum in Singapore.
Myanmar’s military, which has ruled the country for almost 50 years, plans to hold multiparty elections next year.
Suu Kyi has spent more than 14 of the past 20 years in detention of one sort or another, mostly under house arrest.
Myanmar’s military government is shunned by the West over its rights record, which has kept previous US presidents from meeting all 10 members of ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a part.
But since taking office less than a year ago Obama has greeted and spoken to leaders such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who were avoided at international summits by his predecessor.
The Obama administration decided in September to pursue deeper engagement with Myanmar to try to spur democratic reforms. US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell visited Myanmar last week.
Despite the increased diplomacy, Clinton said there were no plans at this stage to drop US economic sanctions on Myanmar.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS