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US will continue engagement policy with Burma after election
Irrawaddy - September 17, 2010
Lalit K Jha, Washington – Despite two rounds of failed dialogue with the Burmese military regime and the recognition that its engagement policy has made little if any progress in improving conditions inside Burma, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said on Thursday that the Obama administration would continue its policy after Burma's Nov. 7 elections.
"We have been in close consultations with all our friends in the region about our intentions which are to keep the door open, work towards a comprehensive dialogue with the regime, and follow on with its successors with the recognition that it is among all the difficult options the best possible way to go forward," said Campbell.
His comment followed his remarks on the "Next Steps in Engaging the Asia-Pacific Region," and were in response to a question by Priscilla Clapp, the former Charge d' Affairs for the US Embassy in Burma, about what policy the Obama administration would follow after the elections in Burma.
"We are faced with a predicament. I think everything today suggests that the November elections will be without international legitimacy – no observers, none of the internationally accepted norms, steps that one wants to see before this election that is taking place," Campbell said.
He added, however, that "It is also the case that the period after the election might create new players, power relationships, new structures inside the country. We think we need to stand by and see how that plays out."
"We think that it is going to require a combination of some pressure and some rewards if progress is to be made. We are prepared to act in both cases," said Campbell, who has been instrumental in shaping the Obama administration's policy on Burma and who has led the US in the two rounds of talks it has had with the Burmese regime since the Obama administration announced its policy of simultaneous engagement and sanctions.
"When the Obama administration came to power, I think there was a desire to look closely at what our approach had been to Burma. After an extensive review, in which we consulted stakeholders, non-profits and governments in the region as a whole, I think we came to the conclusion that both the kind of open engagement strategy of Asean [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] without any particular downside and the policy of sanctions by the United States had failed to accomplish its goal of change inside the country," he said.
"So with the full support of the administration, we embarked on a dialogue with Burma on a range of issues. I think it would be fair to say today that the dialogue has been disappointing and it has been very challenging," Campbell said.
The United States had sought some specific steps from the junta in terms of the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the commencement of a domestic dialogue within Burma, the fairness and inclusiveness of the Nov. 7 elections and the receipt of assurances about the regime's strategic relationship with North Korea.
"Now it would be fair to say that in almost every arena, we have been disappointed in what we see today," Campbell said. "We did say at the outset, however, that we did not expect it to be a short term process, it was going to take a long period of time. We tried to not overpromise, and at every stage we tried to be honest about where we are in the process."
Campbell, who has met Aung San Suu Kyi during his trips to Burma, said that she has supported America's overall approach of engagement, as have many other opposition voices inside Burma.
"In my first meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, we spent the better part of 30 minutes discussing why initially the leadership wanted the dialogue with us. Neither of us were entirely sure. Frankly, we are still discussing going forward," he said.
"Ultimately, however, one of the few benefits of this effort has been a better dialogue with the rest of South East Asia, the rest of Asean, about Burma.
We are now able to say that look, we are trying, and we need help from you, and it allows us to have a fuller diplomatic engagement which I think is in the best strategic interest of the United States," Campbell said.
Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague denounced on Friday the planned elections in Burma as "a sham process designed to keep the regime in power."
His comments came after it was announced that the main opposition movment, the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi, had been dissolved by the Burmese government.
In a statement, Hague said: "These actions expose the elections in Burma for what they are – a sham process designed to keep the regime in power and deny the Burmese people their right to freely choose their leaders.
"The elections should have been a chance for national reconcilliation; helping to end decades of ethnic conflict and needless poverty in the country. This opportunity is being squandered.
"These latest developments should be greeted with dismay and condemnation by the international community and renewed determination to support the people of Burma."
UK Shadow Foreign Secretary David Miliband, said: "These elections will not be free, and they will not be fair. All these elections will do is tighten the junta's grip on the throat of Burma's people.
"Political opinions in Burma are effectively banned, and while the people of Burma are prevented from being able to speak out, it's important we do so on their behalf."
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