Hillary in Myanmar, a Historic First

We must go all the way back to 1955 to trace the visit of an American secretary of state in Burma, specifically, John Foster Dulles. This is certainly long enough to add historic significance to Hillary Clinton’s visit to Myanmar’s new capital, Naypyitaw.

Today, the top diplomat for the “stars and stripes” will meet the Burmese president, ex-general Thein Sein, along with other government officials. In addition, there are two meetings scheduled, one with Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with representatives of the ethnic minority, who are the subject of fierce repression. The other meeting will be with non-governmental organizations.

The visit, announced last month by President Obama, follows a period of relative openness in Myanmar, one that has seen the recent release of hundreds of political prisoners, the easing of censorship, the renunciation of a controversial Chinese dam, even opening up to Suu Kyi. With so many changes occurring in Myanmar, the U.S. would do well to treat it with care.

Clinton’s objective in visiting is to evaluate the real intentions of the government, which is in reality an offshoot of the ex-military junta that has succeeded in winning elections as well as ousting Suu Kyi. There is no doubt that this visit comes as a strong signal of encouragement from Washington, because as Clinton says, the political and economic reform process started in Myanmar may translate into a “movement for change that will benefit the people of the country.”

The news of the secretary of state’s visit has thrown off many organizations who continue to denounce the country’s repeated violations of human rights. Activists fear that this move will be an opening for the reduction of American sanctions that have been steadily imposed since 1990. These are sanctions that, while having been reviewed, should be discussed by Congress without outside obstacles.

Amongst Republicans, there are those who have turned their noses up at Clinton’s expedition, branding it as an opening up to an outlaw regime, one which has pursued dangerous relations with Pyongyang by pursuing a nuclear program about which little is known. Clinton has said that she is ready to exert pressure on Thein Sein to free all of the estimated 500 to 1,600 political prisoners as promised, as well as to resolve the conflicts between ethnic minorities that have been dragging on since 1948.

Obviously, the United States’ move hasn’t gone unnoticed behind the Great Wall. In fact, Beijing has said in so many words that it would look favorably upon the isolated Myanmar opening relations with other Asian and Western countries. Beijing has also surely realized that behind Clinton’s mission is the not too hidden American agenda to balance Chinese power in Asia.

This balance of power cannot be trivially diminished by simply leaving Sino-Burmese matters out of the agenda in talks with Thein Sein. “The Dragon” is intent upon guarding the territory and not loosening its grip on its satellite states, as seen last Monday during talks between Vice President Xi Jinping, future successor of Hu Jintao, and Min Aung Hlaing, commander of the Burmese armed forces. It is unclear whether the summit was long-planned or if it was organized to balance the arrival of the American secretary of state, but certainly, China will not just stand by watching, what with the possibility of the Burmese government looking to put a thumb on the scales to counterbalance their cumbersome Chinese neighbors.