【彭博社12.1】希拉里批缅甸像朝鲜一样缺少自由

lilyma06

Clinton to Press Myanmar on Lack of Internal Freedom, Links to North Korea                                                  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-30/clinton-arrives-in-myanmar-as-u-s-eyes-china.html
By                    Nicole Gaouette and Daniel Ten Kate                 -                                Dec 1, 2011 2:27 AM GMT+0800                          
                                                      
                                                         
                     

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a press conference during the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan on November 30, 2011. Clinton will be the highest ranking U.S. official in half a century to visit Myanmar. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary of State Hillary Clintonwill present Myanmar’s leaders today with a series of concernsabout the country’s links to North Korea and its lack ofinternal freedoms, according to a State Department official whobriefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
Clinton’s visit comes as opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyiconfirmed yesterday she will run for parliament in upcomingelections, one of the steps the new government has taken toloosen restrictions in the military-dominated country.
Clinton, who arrived yesterday in the capital of Naypyidaw,is the highest ranking U.S. official in half a century to visitMyanmar, dominated since 1962 by a repressive military regimethat still exerts control through a new civilian government.
Clinton will discuss specific steps the U.S. would like tosee Myanmar’s leaders undertake, and also will meet with ethnicminorities and democracy advocates including Suu Kyi, the StateDepartment official said.
The overall U.S. desire is to be in listening mode and totest the seriousness of the Myanmar government’s intent toreform in the period ahead, the official said in a briefing withreporters en route to Myanmar.
The country’s leaders have reached out to the U.S. and madea series of changes, releasing hundreds of prisoners, allowinggreater press freedom and passing a law that permits publicprotests. President Thein Sein, a former general, has openedcommunication with pro-democracy advocates, changed a law topersuade Suu Kyi’s party to participate in elections andconsulted her.
Suu Kyi’s Announcement In a video webcast to the Council on Foreign Relations inWashington, Suu Kyi said she backed the U.S. involvement in hercountry and confirmed that she will take part in as-yet-unscheduled parliamentary elections.
“I will certainly run for the elections when they takeplace,” she said.
The U.S. has been surprised by some of the steps Myanmarhas taken recently, the State Department official said. He addedthat Clinton will tell Thein Sein and other leaders that thisis a first step and that several other things will need tohappen for the U.S. to be able to support their efforts.
That includes a discussion about concerns that Myanmar maybe engaged in weapons trade with North Korea. The U.S. hasblocked North Korean ships thought to be carrying weapons toMyanmar, also known by its previous name Burma.
The official said the chief U.S. concern is missiletechnology, not nuclear weapons. Even so, Clinton will askMyanmar leaders to sign an International Atomic Energy Agencyprotocol that would allow nuclear inspections, the officialsaid.
Political Prisoners Amnesty International said Myanmar has released at least318 political prisoners this year and that more than 1,000remain imprisoned. The Myanmar army continues to commit humanrights violations against civilians in ethnic minority areas ona “widespread and systematic basis,” the group said on itswebsite.
“Myanmar’s human rights situation has improved modestly insome respects but is significantly worsening in others,” saidBenjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Myanmar specialist.
Clinton’s visit also makes the resource-rich Asian nation anew focus in the struggle between the U.S. and China forinfluence in the Asia-Pacific region. Myanmar has made aconcerted effort to reach out to the U.S. to improve relations.In a recent Washington Post opinion article, Zaw Htay, directorof the president’s office, asked the U.S. to have patience asMyanmar goes about making changes.
Transforming ‘In Steps’ “The United States must recognize that Myanmar’s politicswill transform in steps,” Zaw Htay wrote. He called for strongsupport from the U.S. if it wants Myanmar “to become ademocratic country as measured by their values and norms.”
He pointed to the government’s September decision tosuspend construction of a $3.6 billion Chinese-backed dam in thenorthern part of the country, saying it “signaled to the worldwhat he stands for.”
Douglas Paal, director of the Asia program at Washington’sCarnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Myanmar’sleaders are looking for a counterweight to Beijing.
“China has been so overwhelmingly involved in Burma thatit’s looked like a Chinese province,” he said. “They want somebalance.” Rejection of the dam “was seen as an important stepin defying Chinese influence,” Paal said.
Myanmar’s moves to engage the West are “not really” aboutreducing reliance on China, Nay Zin Latt, a political adviser toThein Sein, said in an e-mail interview on Nov. 26.
Regional Factors “We should have warm relations with our neighboringcountries such as China, India and Thailand,” he said. “In themeantime we should also be on good terms with the Westernworld.”
“There’s a lot of hedging going on in the broader Asia-Pacific region,” said Bryce Wakefield, Asia program associateat the Wilson Center, a Washington policy group. Smaller Asiancountries are moving closer to the U.S. “both as a bargainingstrategy against China and as a way of ensuring their ownsecurity,” Wakefield said.
Ahead of Clinton’s visit, China’s Vice President Xi Jinpinghosted Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Myanmar armed forces, inBeijing on Nov. 28 and discussed boosting military cooperation.The new leaders of Myanmar have instituted political reforms andreached out to the U.S. for help countering China’s influence.
China welcomed the moves by Myanmar “to improve itsrelations with western countries and hopes its measures helpMyanmar’s stability and development,” Foreign Ministryspokesman Hong Lei said yesterday.
In China, some see Clinton’s visit as “another move toencircle” the country, said Sun Zhe, a professor ofinternational relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing. “Alot of people think we don’t have to worry that much because wealso have historical friendship and historical ties withMyanmar,” Sun said.

吴钩1

更年期应该老实在家呆着，不要到处乱走！

collin1990

我认领了