By THOMAS FULLER and MARK LANDLER The New York Times The long-isolated
By THOMAS FULLER and MARK LANDLER
The New York Times
The long-isolated nation of Myanmar embarked on a potentially decisive shift in direction Friday as its main opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, agreed to rejoin the country’s political system and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton prepared to become the highest-ranking American to visit the country in 50 years.
The confluence of events unfolded during President Obama’s trip to Southeast Asia and illustrated the central message of the visit: the United States intends to reassert itself in the Asia-Pacific region to limit the influence of a rising China.
Under decades of military rule, Myanmar, also known as Burma, counted neighboring China as its primary ally and economic partner. But a new cast of leaders there has begun to ease political controls, court the opposition and repair relations with Western and other Asian powers, an opportunity the Obama administration has embraced.
Combined with the announcements this week that the United States would station 2,500 Marines in Australia, and intended to enhance military ties with the Philippines, Obama’s decision to send Clinton to Myanmar on Dec. 1 and 2 rattled China, which issued a series of warnings claiming the United States is seeking to destabilize the region.
Kenneth Lieberthal, a top China adviser in the Clinton administration, said: “We are seeing a very significant new phase in U.S. policy toward China … a much more active, integrated, assertive U.S. posture in Asia than anyone expected six months ago.”
In making his decision, Obama consulted Suu Kyi during a 20-minute phone call while en route to the ASEAN meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
For Suu Kyi, a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the decision to re-register her National League for Democracy party and compete in elections in the military-backed system represents a historic shift. Known globally as a symbol of endurance in the face of dictatorship, she has spent most of her 23 years in politics battling the country’s generals, much of that time in prison or under house arrest. Now she is joining the system they created.
The civilian government that took power in March is dominated by former generals, including President Thein Sein. It has sought to liberalize Myanmar’s economy and pushed the country toward a more open political system, wooing Suu Kyi in a choreographed rapprochement.
In announcing Clinton’s plans to visit, Obama cited “flickers of progress” in the country.
The United States, he said, remains concerned about human-rights abuses, the persecution of democratic reformers and brutality toward ethnic minorities. But he hailed policies by Thein Sein as leading the country “on the path toward reform.”
He cited the government’s cooperation with Suu Kyi, the release of political prisoners and the relaxation of media restrictions.
The subtext is that Myanmar has unexpectedly become a diplomatic prize for the United States, which is eager to show allies in Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines and Thailand, that it is no longer distracted by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
While Obama traveled to Australia to seal an arrangement to base Marines there, Clinton signed a declaration with the Philippines that called for disputes over maritime claims in the South China Sea to be settled through a “multilateral” process, something China has rejected.
She also referred to the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea, a term preferred in the Philippines but reviled in China.
Indeed, China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, warned the United States on Friday to steer clear of territorial disputes between China and its neighbors, saying they ought to be resolved directly “through friendly consultations.”
Obama and Wen, meanwhile, met Saturday in a surprise session on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit.
Material from The Associated Press and The Washington Post is included in this report.