Global Times: US Secretary of State John Kerry will arrive in Nay Pyi Taw on Saturday, where he is scheduled to meet Myanmar government leaders and attend a series of gatherings including the ASEAN Regional Forum and East Asia Summit ministerial talks.
This is the second visit by a US secretary of state to Myanmar since Kerry's predecessor Hillary Clinton wrapped up a groundbreaking visit in 2011. It was also reported that US President Barack Obama would return to Myanmar later this year, his second trip as sitting US president.
Such intensive visits by US high-ranking leaders cast light on the importance that Washington attaches to Myanmar.
In a speech at West Point in late May, Obama claimed reform in Myanmar was a success for US foreign policy. US-Myanmar relations on the surface are in a honeymoon period.
However, as Myanmar's political transition and economic reform are far from what the US expects, Washington will keep imposing pressure on Nay Pyi Taw. Whether the bilateral relationship can evolve into an equal, cooperative and mutually beneficial one remains to be seen.
Politically, the US is expanding its practical engagement with Myanmar. It is using a "carrot and stick" approach, bolstering up Myanmar's reformists while retaining sanctions on conservatives that hinder the reform.
Myanmar carried out its elections and by-elections based on its own road map to democracy, but not necessarily in accordance with US standards. But the US seeks influence on Myanmar's democratic transition through any possible channels.
Since 2011, Washington has quickened up rapprochement with Nay Pyi Taw and relaxed some sanctions against the country.
The U Thein Sein government needed to release the country from decades of isolation caused by Western sanctions. Meanwhile, the US was in the need to mend fences with Myanmar against the background of its "pivot to Asia" strategy. The White House quickly responded to Myanmar's aspiration of advancing reform, seizing the opportunity to improve bilateral relations.
But an all-round rapprochement is subject to constraints. The US lacks confidence in the Thein Sein administration, and wrangles between Republicans and Democrats are also likely to affect policy adjustments toward Myanmar.
Two years after the normalization of US-Myanmar diplomatic relations, Washington's optimism is ebbing over Myanmar's embrace of democracy.
Recently, over 70 US lawmakers wrote a letter to Kerry, petitioning the US secretary of state to warn the Myanmar government against such issues as sectarian violence, military abuses against ethnic minorities, the recent jailing of journalists, and the need for constitutional reform.
Early in May, the Obama administration extended some economic sanctions against Myanmar for another one year, with the purpose of pressing Myanmar to reform as the US desires.
Economically, the US has strengthened development assistance to Myanmar and emphasized responsible investment in Myanmar.
It demands US companies in Myanmar file reports, detailing actions they've taken to ensure their investments comply with local laws, safeguards around land, human rights and other concerns.
Assistance has also been leaned to the domains of economic development, enterprise management and training, and humanitarian aid. The US government, instead of NGOs, has begun to play a bigger role in providing assistance.
With a population of about 60 million, abundant natural resources and an important strategic position located between the two emerging economies of China and India, Myanmar is expected to be Asia's new economic tiger and hailed as a "new golden land for investment."
In the US perception, long-lasting economic development is of critical significance to bolster public support in Myanmar for the government's political transition.
Washington has therefore partly eased sanctions on the importation of products from Myanmar. But as Myanmar's investment environment has yet to become sound in short term, the US assistance and investment haven't yet entered into the country on a large scale, which has aroused dissatisfaction from some of the Myanmar elite and media outlets.
Although Myanmar has made remarkable achievements in transition, reform and development, there are still varied setbacks in both economic and political reforms, as well as ethnic strife and communal violence between the Buddhists and Muslims. The country hasn't gained enough credit to be immune from US sanctions. These problems will continue to affect US-Myanmar relations.
The US in the future won't give up its efforts of building Myanmar into a regional "democratic model." As part of the "pivot to Asia" strategy, the US will continue its "carrot and stick" policy in political, economic, military and diplomatic fields, so as to intervene in and dictate Myanmar's reforms.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/874937.shtml
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