Friday, 02 December 2011
HT Magazine | Global Agenda 2012
The Essential Flame
By AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Published: December 2, 2011
HT Magazine | Global Agenda 2012
The Essential Flame
By AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Published: December 2, 2011
Why does change seem so desirable and so exhilarating in our times? Barack Obama's presidential campaign was fueled by the promise of change. In Burma today there is continuous debate on whether the new government means real change or whether it is no more than the old army dictatorship in new civilian garb. Almost every day I am asked if I believe that measures taken by the new administration should be seen as mere window dressing or as signs of genuine change in the right direction. After 23 years under authoritarian rule, impatience to see and to experience change is understandable. It has been sharpened by events in other parts of the world during 2011.
The political upheavals of the Arab Spring have been of such proportions that fundamental and irreversible changes are expected throughout the Mideast and Arab Africa in 2012, with possible copycat effects elsewhere. Whether such expectations will be fulfilled will depend on many factors, not least the degree of commitment by those who wish to create a brave new future. I'm thinking of commitment here as passion, in the social theorist Max Weber's sense of passionate dedication to a cause.
Were the peoples of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya led to topple seemingly indestructible regimes by such passion, or were they merely moved by what Weber denigrated as "sterile excitement?" It would surely be sophistry to label as sterile an outcry that led to such convulsive results. It might be argued, though, that the emotion fueling the Arab Spring was the kind that burns itself out speedily, after setting off the first sparks of defiance.
If the original impulse needed some help to turn those first sparks into a full-scale conflagration, another more effective catalyst must have been at work. Could that have been power? People power, or IT power or the power of global democratic solidarity or, simply, in the end, military power, either the use of it or the decision to refrain from using it?
Power is by nature latent until a force sets it in motion. What starts up the engines of power, whether they be tanks and fighter jets and nuclear weapons or diverse individuals linked by a shared cause and modern technology? The means to unleash power that could change frontiers or crush men and their aspirations can become active only when an initial force sweeps away irresolution and inhibitions. The power of defiance, too, needs that first impulse to encourage passive individuals to put aside the inaction fostered by decades of fear or by natural human caution.
So then, is it "passion vs. power?" Does it have to be versus? Are passion and power natural opposites, or mutually exclusive in promoting political change, either of the ordinary variety brought about through constitutional processes in established democracies, or of the revolutionary brand that reshapes the destinies of peoples and nations?
There is also the kind of change that defeats easy categorization. The U.S. presidential election of 2008 was certainly not ordinary, but whether the election of Barack Obama should be regarded as a seismic event in the history of the United States or just a political landmark is a matter of opinion. There can, however, be no controversy about the outcome of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa; it changed the political landscape of the nation, and it changed perceptions with regard to race and color the world over.
What prevented the now toppled regimes of Tunisia and Egypt from using all their administrative and military might? What convinced the despots of Libya and Syria to make war on their own people? And what made the anti-government forces of Libya and Syria persist even after it was clear the fight would be prolonged and brutal?
Is there not, behind the iron mask of autocracy, the flesh and blood of human will, just as there is a steely, collective will behind a motley, unarmed crowd determined to exercise its right to cry out its woes and perhaps even to take up arms to assert that right? And is not will --- which is, after all, deliberate, controlled purpose --- closely joined to passion? It may be joined either as an intense, transitory emotion, which may well be no more than "sterile excitement," or as a long-term, firmly rooted dedication to principles or a cause --- something as broad as freedom or as limited as self-preservation.
As a member of a movement that has been engaged in a long struggle to effect change through nonviolent means, I have learned to value above all other attributes in colleagues and supporters disinterested, active commitment. Such commitment is seldom given to pyrotechnic display, but it is always there, and it provides constant assurance that the essential flame that keeps our cause vibrant will not die out. It is passion, not of the sterile breed, but passion that moves hearts and minds and makes history. It is passion that translates into power. When such passion is brought to bear on public issues, it is a potent instrument for political and social change.
In Burma, again and again, the most active members of our party and other forces committed to the struggle have been placed under detention, their voices silenced, their faces almost forgotten by the public. Again and again they have emerged, arousing the world to their cries. In 2002, after I was released from my second term of house arrest, I toured the country, and the commitment of our supporters translated into large, enthusiastic rallies that made the authorities feel the power of our passion. Quite recently, concern over the fate of our Irrawaddy River united peoples from all walks of life. Our passionate appeal for a reappraisal of the dam project was so powerful that the president announced the suspension of the project for the duration of his term.
Can the process be reversed, can power become passion? Power that effects political change cannot be defined as an isolated, unique brand different from all other powers. Party power, money power, media power, pressure group power and many other powers strongly influence political evolution and revolution. Power as the authority of the ruler(s) backed by the machinery of state might, however, be considered a contrast to passion. The distinction between despotic power and democratically invested power is relevant here.
When do those in authority wish to work for political change? The impulse of those who hold the powers of state is generally toward conservation, not transformation. Only when problems arise, and not always then, do rulers begin to consider the need for change. Intelligent rulers are quick to grasp when change becomes unavoidable. But realizing the need for change is not the same as having the means to make it possible.
In pluralistic societies, government alone cannot bring about change. Many other players are involved. The bipartisan negotiations to push through the U.S. debt deal that did not seem to please anybody demonstrated that the president of the United States does not have sufficient means to effect the change that not only he but many of his countrymen consider necessary.
If presidential power can be considered an impetus toward change, it is one that is easily dissipated by other powers. Commitment, perseverance, persuasion, the ability to win hearts and minds can be counterweights to these opposing powers. Passion can fill in the gaps when power alone is not enough.
It is easier for an authoritarian government untroubled by counteracting powers or passions to act in accordance with its own will. A ruthless despot allowed to proceed unchecked can change not just the political scene but the very psyche of a nation. For a time. Under Stalin's brutal absolutism, terror seeped into the very bones of citizens and made them unrecognizable to themselves. For a time. Then the despot died, and the country woke from its nightmare. People began to ask what had happened and why. Did power alone transform a whole society? What enabled Stalin to exercise power with such single-minded brutality?
Whether Stalin was fired by dedication to a cause or whether personal ambition motivated him, it could be said the element that initially fueled his ruthless machine was passion, albeit of the worst kind. As his iron rule continued, an all-consuming preoccupation with the preservation of his inviolability, obsession rather than passion, moved him to commit some of the greatest political crimes in history.
Stalin was not alone in establishing his reign of terror. Vast numbers collaborated, and some of those who did so consciously and willingly were fired by passion: as commitment to the political and social changes they believed Stalin would achieve for their country or as dedication to the man himself. Power can generate passion; and power needs passion as its agent.
In all its might, power is less self-sufficient than passion; passion generates its own power. Passion is in itself a kind of power that is by its very nature a kinetic force.
Power, on the other hand, tends naturally toward entrenchment. When power moves in the direction of political change, it usually does so because external forces --- from popular uprisings to poll predictions --- have become irresistible.
Passion is more effective than power as an impetus for political change. Meaningful political change, however, needs to be sustainable. For that, passion and power must work together as mutually supportive partners.
We all wish for change, but there is no guarantee that change will take place or that it will live up to expectations. There is always an element of risk when we step out into the unknown. The greatest challenge for Burma and the countries of the Arab Spring, as well as all peoples who hope to enjoy the flowers and fruits of their endeavors in 2012, will be to bring wisdom to bear on passion and power, to create a blend of the two that is both effective and wholesome.
Aung San Suu Kyi was born in 1945 in Burma, now called Myanmar. Her father, the nation's independence hero, was assassinated when she was 2. She left the country as a teenager when her mother was named an ambassador, then returned from Britain in 1988 and became a pro-democracy leader. She won the Nobel Peace Price in 1991, one of 15 years she spent under house arrest.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/opinion/magazine-global-agenda-the-essential-flame.html?pagewanted=2&_r=3&src=twrhp
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Posted at 07:16 AM ET, 12/02/2011
Hillary Clinton in Burma: kisses for Suu Kyi, handshake for the president
By Debbi Wilgoren
There was no giggling when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met the former general who runs Burma's oppressive government.
There were smiles (measured), of course, and handshakes, and ceremonial visits to historic sites and shrines. But the outreach was tempered by wariness and recognition that the first visit of a U.S. secretary of state to Burma in half a century carries with it no small amount of risk. It was only when Clinton sat down to dinner with another of the world's most famous female leaders that the laughter, and good will, really began to flow.
"For decades, the choices of this country's leaders kept it apart from the global economy and the community of nations," Clinton said after meeting President Thein Sein. "While the measures already taken may be unprecedented and welcomed, they are just a beginning."
Hours later, Clinton sat outside at a glass-and-wrought-iron patio table with Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's best-known opposition leader and a Nobel peace laureate, for an intimate private dinner.
Their choices of hairstyle--Clinton's tresses held back with a scrunchy, Suu Kyi's with an cluster of flowers--did not go unnoticed, with the Post's Style Tumblr writing dubbing the image of them together: "Power to the Ponytails."
Though the women had spoken previously by telephone, it was the first time that Clinton--who calls Suu Kyi an "inspiration," had met the dissident leader in person.
Clinton traveled to Suu Kyi's home on Friday for additional talks. The women greeted each other with kisses on the cheek, and spoke briefly to reporters afterward. They held hands at one point during the news conference, then paused, laughed and hugged before saying goodbye. The chief U.S. diplomat brought a chew toy for the Nobel laureate's guard dog.
"Chew away, chew away,"Clinton told the pooch.
"Keep your distance," Suu Kyi warned, "He thinks that people who stand close to me are a threat." http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/hillary-clinton-in-burma-warm-relations-with-suu-kyi-light-up-visit/2011/12/02/gIQAXVOIKO_blog.html
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Suu Kyi hopeful of democratic reform in Burma
SHAUN TANDON YANGON, BURMA - Dec 02 2011 15:27
Aung San Suu Kyi voiced guarded hope on Friday that democracy would come to Burma as the opposition leader warmly welcomed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the home that was her prison for years.
In scenes unthinkable before Burma's recent reforms, Suu Kyi took Clinton by the arm and escorted her through the garden of her crumbling lakeside villa in the commercial hub Yangon where she was locked up until a year ago.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner said she supported Clinton's trip a day earlier to Burma's remote capital Naypyidaw and believed the nation had reached a "historic moment".
"I am very confident that if we work together ... there will be no turning back from the road to democracy," Suu Kyi said next to a beaming Clinton on a back porch surrounded by potted plants.
More needed to be done by the new military-backed government "but we hope to get there as soon as possible", Suu Kyi added.
Clinton, who is the first US secretary of state to visit Burma in more than 50 years, nodded in agreement and said she saw "openings" during her three-day trip that "give us some grounds for encouragement".
'Inspiration'
The wife of former president Bill Clinton has spent decades hobnobbing with the world's most powerful but was visibly excited to meet Suu Kyi, repeatedly embracing the democracy champion and kissing her on the cheeks.
Clinton and Suu Kyi, two of the world's most prominent women, also met away from aides for an expansive dinner on Thursday night at the US diplomatic mission whose chef prepared foods especially chosen to please Suu Kyi.
Clinton's aides said she even brought from the US a chewy toy for Suu Kyi's small but energetic dog. Suu Kyi nonetheless gave Clinton a friendly warning that her dog was sometimes aggressive towards strangers. http://mg.co.za/article/2011-12-02-suu-kyi-hopeful-of-democratic-reform-in-burma/
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Hillary Clinton Burma visit raises hopes political prisoners will be released
By Dean Nelson, South Asia Editor
1:06PM GMT 02 Dec 2011
CommentsComment
Her visit was welcomed by both the country's Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the influential speaker of its parliament who promised to press for more prisoner releases.
After meeting the US Secretary of State on Thursday, Thura Shwe Mann, speaker of Burma's lower house legislature said he had pledged new efforts to allow political prisoners to join the dialogue for reform.
"She urged Burma to release political prisoners. In response, I said I pledged that we will do as much as we can in order that all citizens including political prisoners can be involved in building the nation and for the sake of national reconciliation," he said after meeting Mrs Clinton in the capital Naypyitaw.
His comments raised hopes that more prisoners may be released in time to campaign in a series of by-elections expected in Spring next year.
Mrs Clinton, who is the highest level US official to visit Burma for more than 50 years, had raised the issue forcefully during her meetings with the speaker and the country's president Thein Sein. "No person in any country should be detained for exercising universal freedoms of expression, assembly and conscience," she had told him.
There was disappointment in October when around 200 political prisoners of were released despite hopes the figure would be much higher. They included high profile detainees like the comedian-activist Zarganar, who voiced anger on his release that around 1000 of his fellow dissidents remained in jail.
After meeting Mrs Clinton at her home in Rangoon on Friday, Ms Suu Kyi welcomed American support for Burma's democracy movement.
"I am very confident that if we work together... there will be no turning back from the road to democracy," she said. The military-supported government had a long way to go, she said, "but we hope to get there as soon as possible."
The government must end human rights abuses, hostilities against ethnic rebels, release all political prisoners and ensure "that no more are arrested in the future for their beliefs," she said.
Mrs Clinton added that she would give Burma's leaders a chance to ensure accountability for the past, rather than call for a war crimes investigation.
"We are going to support the principle of accountability and the appropriate mechanism to ensure justice and accountability will be considered," she said.
"But I think it's important to try to give the new government and the opposition a chance to try to demonstrate they have their own approach toward achieving that."
Mrs Clinton ended her visit with a pledge that Washington will match the Burmese government's reforms "action for action."
"And if there is enough progress, obviously we will be considering lifting sanctions," she said. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/8931107/Hillary-Clinton-Burma-visit-raises-hopes-political-prisoners-will-be-released.html
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Clinton visit could signal closer US-Myanmar ties
02/12/2011
Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed US engagement with Myanmar as its new civilian government pledged to move forward with political reforms.
The pro-democracy campaigner met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the most senior American official to visit Myanmar in 50 years, and the two discussed the road ahead.
Standing alongside Clinton, Suu Kyi told the press outside her home: Before we decide what steps to take, we have to find out what our greatest needs are, and of course, two of the greatest needs in this country are rule of law and a cessation of civil war. All hostilities mush cease within this country as soon as possible.
Earlier in her visit, Clinton talked about possibly ending US sanctions, providing real progress is made on reforms.
Democracy is the goal. That has been the goal from the very beginning. Yet we know that it has been a long and very difficult path that has been followed. We do see openings today, she said.
In a meeting with the countrys president on Thursday, the US Secretary of State agreed to Americas support on changes to the relationship between Myanmar and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and expanding United Nations aid programmes.
A full US ambassador could also be reinstated in Myanmar.
http://www.euronews.net/2011/12/02/clinton-visit-could-signal-closer-us-myanmar-ties/
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In Myanmar, Government Reforms Win Over Some Skeptics
International Herald Tribune
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: November 29, 2011
YANGON, Myanmar --- The waves of change sweeping Myanmar are trickling down to the broken sidewalks and potholed streets of this dilapidated city.
Automated teller machines, ubiquitous in the world's major cities but absent here during years of economic stagnation, are now being installed at a handful of banks.
Street vendors hawk coffee mugs, key chains and posters adorned with pictures of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's main opposition leader, whose name and image were taboo during two decades of military dictatorship.
The government's changes --- rapid and unexpected, though still far from complete --- are winning over some of the country's deepest skeptics of the military-backed civilian government that came to power in March.
"What has happened in these last few months is a miracle for us," said Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, an opposition leader and former political prisoner whose family suffered years of persecution by the military.
"To be frank, in the very beginning, I didn't believe a word of what they were saying," she said of the new government. "Now I believe what is happening is for the good of the people."
In a significant vote of confidence for the new government after years of international ostracism, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to arrive in Myanmar on Wednesday, where she will meet with the new president as well as Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. Workers have laid a fresh layer of sod and repainted the gates of the opposition leader's house in anticipation.
Mrs. Clinton's visit is the first by a secretary of state since 1955. The changes in Myanmar have provided an opening to better relations with the United States at a time when the Obama administration is courting Southeast Asian nations as China asserts its influence in the region.
Mrs. Clinton will be touring Myanmar in the midst of what many see as the initial steps in a historic transformation toward democracy.
Since his inauguration in March, President Thein Sein has worked with the country's newly established Parliament to pass a raft of new laws and regulations. Labor unions have been legalized, the Internet has been mostly freed of heavy censorship, and proposals are being drawn up to overhaul the country's dysfunctional banking system. The government has also freed a number of political prisoners.
As the pace of change accelerated in recent months, observers debated why the former military men leading the government would be willing to cede nearly absolute power to pursue democratic changes and embrace dissidents officials have persecuted for decades. Mr. Thein Sein was a member of the junta that repeatedly crushed dissent before becoming president.
The answer, according to one of the president's advisers, is that Mr. Thein Sein realized that the country could no longer ignore the world around it.
"The president was convinced about the global situation; he saw where the global stream was heading," said U Nay Zin Latt, the adviser.
In one of the most crucial moves for establishing the legitimacy of the new government, Mr. Thein Sein has successfully courted Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. Her party, the National League for Democracy, recently said it would officially reregister and compete in coming elections for a number of parliamentary seats.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi's views carry significant weight inside and outside the country. President Obama called her before announcing Mrs. Clinton's visit. Inside Myanmar, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is a mother figure whose decade and a half of house arrest earned her deep credibility and loyalty.
"When I talk to Aung San Suu Kyi, she says, 'Forget the past,' " Ms. Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein said. "She says have faith in Thein Sein. If she says that, we must have faith in him."
Ms. Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, who was imprisoned for seven years for opposing the military, has ample reasons to mistrust the government. Her father --- a former deputy prime minister who was in power during the last visit by an American secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, in the 1950s --- was jailed for seven years. Her mother was detained for three years, and so was her former husband.
But in an interview on Tuesday, she said she was very excited about Mrs. Clinton's visit and her meeting with Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi.
"Let the two smart women talk," she said. "It's unbelievable that Mrs. Clinton is visiting us." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/world/asia/in-myanmar-government-reforms-win-over-countrys-skeptics.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=world
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The Washington Post
Hillary Clinton, Aung San Suu Kyi discuss Burma's road to democracy
Saul Loeb/AP - Burma's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meet at Suu Kyi's residence in Rangoon, Burma, on Friday.
By William Wan, Friday, December 2, 2:33 PM
RANGOON, Burma --- Hillary Rodham Clinton visited the home of Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday for a meeting that was both personal and formal as two of the world's most famous female political figures discussed the sudden and unexpected signs of reforms in Burma.
The meeting between the U.S. secretary of state and the leader of Burma's long-persecuted democracy movement --- unthinkable just three months ago --- was yet another sign of the incredible changes afoot in Burma.
"If we go forward together I'm confident there will be no turning back from the road to democracy. We are not on that road yet, but we hope to get there as soon as possible with our friends," Suu Kyi told reporters afterward in a news conference, a rare occurrence for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has spent much of the past two decades under house arrest ordered by Burma's military-controlled government.
Both said that more progress needed to be made by Burma's President Thein Sein and others in his government for true reform to take hold. And Suu Kyi emphasized the need for rule of law, calling on the government to not only release all remaining political prisoners but to change its policies to prevent the continuation of such human rights violations.
Clinton --- the first senior U.S. official to visit Burma, also known as Myanmar, in half a century --- called Suu Kyi "an inspiration." The pair had met for a private dinner the night before, and in their meeting Friday morning, the two evinced a closeness and admiration in the statements and body language --- greeting each other with a kiss on the cheek, holding hands at one point in the news conference and hesitating awkwardly at the end then bursting into laughter as they hugged each other goodbye.
The meeting took place at the home that Suu Kyi's family has long owned --- the compound where she spent most of the past two decades under house arrest. Suu Kyi introduced Clinton to the female doctor who took care of her during that arrest, to her chefs and even her guard dog, for whom Clinton had brought a chew toy gift.
"Chew away, chew away,"Clinton told the dog.
"Keep your distance," Suu Kyi warned, "He thinks that people who stand close to me are a threat."
In her comments, Suu Kyi seemed to be readying herself for her return to politics, having confirmed this week that she planned to run in next year's parliamentary elections. Her last effort in 1990 culminated in a decisive win for her party, which was annulled by the military junta amid one of many crackdowns on democracy leaders.
In talking about the need for more education and health facilities in Burma, Suu Kyi said, "Whatever [we] do in predominantly Burmese area, [we] hope to match in ethnic areas," referencing the long-standing rift between ethnic minorities, which has led to civil war in some areas that continues today.
And she was careful to mention the importance of maintaining friendly ties to China --- Burma's longstanding ally whose growing power of late has led to Burma's overtures to the United States.
Clinton also met civil society organizations on Friday and leaders of Burma's ethnic minorities, who have suffered violence and killings for years at the hands of the Burmese military. Women advocates planned to ask for her help in stopping the military's use of rape as weapon of war to control villages opposing the military-backed government. Human rights activists along the Thailand-Burma border say they have documented 81 cases of rape since March alone, including those of a nine-month pregnant woman and a schoolgirl in front of her mother. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/hillary-clinton-aung-san-suu-kyi-discuss-burmas-road-to-democracy/2011/12/02/gIQAUEHdJO_story.html
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Clinton, Suu Kyi promote closer US-Burma ties
In a striking display of solidarity and sisterhood between two of the world's most recognizable women, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi vowed on Friday to work together to promote democratic reforms in Suu Kyi's long-isolated and authoritarian homeland.
By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press
YANGON, Myanmar --- In a striking display of solidarity and sisterhood between two of the world's most recognizable women, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi vowed on Friday to work together to promote democratic reforms in Suu Kyi's long-isolated and authoritarian homeland.
Wrapping up a historic three-day visit to Myanmar, the first by a secretary of state to the Southeast Asian nation in more than 50 years, Clinton and Suu Kyi held hands on the porch of the lakeside home where the Nobel peace laureate spent much of the past two decades under house arrest. Clinton thanked her for her "steadfast and very clear leadership."
Suu Kyi has welcomed Clinton's visit and tentatively embraced reforms enacted by Myanmar's new civilian government. She thanked the secretary and U.S. President Barack Obama for their "careful and calibrated" engagement that has seen the United States take some modest steps to improve ties.
"If we move forward together I am confident there will be no turning back on the road to democracy," Suu Kyi said, referring to her opposition National League for Democracy party, the government, the United States and other countries, including Myanmar's giant neighbor China. "We are not on that road yet, but we hope to get there as soon as possible with the help and understanding of our friends."
"We are happy with the way in which the United States is engaging with us," she added. "It is through engagement that we hope to promote the process of democratization. Because of this engagement, I think our way ahead will be clearer and we will be able to trust that the process of democratization will go forward."
As she did in the capital of Naypyidaw on Thursday, Clinton said more significant incentives will be offered, but only if the government releases all political prisoners, ends brutal campaigns against ethnic minorities, respects the rule of law and improves human rights conditions.
"We are prepared to go further if reforms maintain momentum," Clinton said. "But history teaches us to be cautious. We know that there have been serious setbacks and grave disappointments over the past decades."
Clinton's meetings with Suu Kyi were the highlight of the U.S. secretary of state's visit to the long-isolated country known as Burma and forcefully underscored a U.S. challenge to Myanmar's leaders.
In addition to the modest incentives Clinton announced Thursday for the government, she said Friday that the U.S. would spend about $1.2 million for preliminary projects aimed at helping the people of Myanmar. The money will go to microcredit and health care initiatives and assistance to land-mine victims, particularly in rural areas.
Suu Kyi, whose party won 1990 elections that were ignored by the then-military junta but now plans to run in upcoming parliamentary elections, endorsed that approach and called for the immediate release of all political prisoners and cease-fires to end the ethnic conflicts..
Suu Kyi, a heroine for pro-democracy advocates around the world, said Clinton's visit represented "a historical moment for both our countries."
With U.S. assistance and pressure on the government, which is still backed by the military, she said she believed change was on the horizon for Myanmar.
"There have been times that Naypyidaw has weakened but I don't think it has ever really broken," she said.
The meeting was the second in as many days for the pair who bonded deeply at a three-hour, one-on-one dinner in Yangon on Thursday, according to U.S. officials. One senior official said the dinner marked the beginning of what appeared to be a "very warm friendship" between the former first lady, New York senator and presidential hopeful and Suu Kyi, who plans to re-enter the political arena in upcoming parliamentary elections.
"We have been inspired by her fearlessness in the face of intimidation and her serenity through decades of isolation, but most of all through her devotion to her country and to the freedom and dignity of her fellow citizens," Clinton told reporters after the meeting Suu Kyi.
Clinton said the two had discussed the "ups and downs and slings and arrows of political participation" at dinner and that Suu Kyi would be an "excellent member" of Myanmar's parliament but declined to discuss any electoral advice she may have given here.
--- Associated Press writer Aye Aye Win in Yangon contributed to this report. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2016901498_apasclintonmyanmar.html?syndication=rss
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Kachin people look ahead to end war after Clinton's visit
By Zin Linn Dec 02, 2011 10:16PM UTC
A number of international human rights organizations gave warning the United States not to allow Secretary Clinton's high-profile visit to Burma because of the country's cosmetic reforms and that still commits sickening human rights violations, particularly in ethnic areas along Sino-Burma border and Thai-Burma border.
However, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embarked on her first trip to Burma by meeting President Thein Sein and some of his cabinet members in Naypyidaw on Wednesday amid armed ethnic conflicts and political prisoners' issue high on the agenda.
On the same Wednesday morning, Burma Army's soldiers burned down ten homes in Dawhpumyang sub-township in Manmaw (Bhamo) district Kachin state, referring respective villagers Kachin News Group (KNG) reported.
The burned homes were in two small ethnic Shan villages located at the rear of the headquarters of Infantry Battalion No. 142 which is near the Myitkyina-Manmaw highway under the Northern Regional command based in Myitkyina.
The villagers told KNG that at least 10 houses were completely destroyed in Nam Wai village while five homes were leveled in neighboring Hpa Ke village.
The villagers believed the houses were set on fire in retaliation for a mine exploding near the Dawhpumyang battalion base. The Myitkyina-Manmaw road has been the location of fresh fighting between the Kachin Independence Organization and the Burmese armed forces but the homes burnt down were belonged to civilians who never involved in the conflict.
The homes were burnt down the same day a report released by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) accused the Burmese army of torturing and killing large numbers of Kachin villagers during its ongoing anti KIO offensive.
PHR released a report on 30 November detailing human rights abuses committed by the Burmese Army in Kachin State, Burma. PHR's investigation reveals that the much-publicized incremental political changes in central Burma have not translated into improvements for the ethnic populations in the remote areas of Burma.
During Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Burma in December, PHR calls on her to focus on abuses against ethnic minorities.
"This report sheds an important light on the brutal violations suffered every day by the people of Kachin State. While the rest of the world applauds Burma for 'flickers of progress' the ethnic minorities of Burma continue to endure human rights violations as they wait for true change," said Shirley Seng, spokesperson for Kachin Women's Association of Thailand.
PHR found that between June and September 2011, the Burmese army looted food from civilians, fired indiscriminately into villages, threatened villages with attacks, and used civilians as porters and human minesweepers.
Meanwhile, state-owned New Light of Myanmar newspaper yesterday claimed that the explosions were the work of the armed wing of the KIO the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). During a phone interview by Kachin News Group, Lah Nan, Deputy General Secretary-2 of KIO rejected the government's allegations.
"We denounce the government's false accusation. We would never attack or cause explosions in the downtown area," Lah Nan said.
In response to the ongoing atrocities being committed by the Burmese army in its offensive against the KIO, seven Kachin organizations yesterday co signed an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to raise the issue during her trip to Burma.
On Thursday, Ms. Clinton met with President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw. It is unclear if she spoke about the Kachin conflict with Thein Sein, himself a retired General and close ally of the reclusive strongman Than Shwe.
Clinton's advisers turned down to discuss what additional incentives Clinton was bringing on this trip, saying much of that depends on her sense in meetings of the government's readiness to continue reforms.
The two biggest signs of sincerity that U.S. officials say they are looking for are the release of all political prisoners and an end to the violent war between government troops and ethnic minorities.
According to the Washington Post's William Wan in Naypyitaw, quoting U.S. officials, Burma's President Thein Sein spent much of their meeting giving a detailed 45-minute presentation to Clinton about further change.
His plan for reforming areas of his government long criticized by the U.S. and others included: the gradual release of political prisoners, a cease-fire in the war between Burma's military and ethnic minorities, political reform, media freedom and adopting international agreements on nuclear programs to allay suspicions about Burma-North Korea weapons trades.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the release of political prisoners and an end to brutal ethnic violence that has devastated the nation for decades. http://asiancorrespondent.com/71151/kachin-people-look-ahead-to-end-war-after-clinton%E2%80%99s-visit/
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THE TIME (Partner with CNN)
As Burma Engages with the U.S., Could the Plight of the Country's Ethnic Minorities Be Forgotten?
Posted by Hannah Beech Friday, December 2, 2011 at 6:30 am
Nestled next to a placid lake in Burma's largest city, Rangoon, the villa of democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi is a pleasant spot---although no place can be so comfortable as to merit spending much of two decades under house arrest there. In 2009, before the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was released from villa detention by the ruling military junta, an American Vietnam War veteran secretly swam to her home unannounced because he believed he was on a mission from God. The American's surprise visit earned the opposition leader months more under lock and key, after the military regime ludicrously deemed that his entry had broken the conditions of her house arrest.
On Dec. 2, Suu Kyi, now freed for more than a year and gearing up to run in a parliamentary by-election made possible by tentative reforms instituted by Burma's new semi-civilian government, hosted another American at her home. This time, the U.S. visitor was far more welcome. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who dubbed Suu Kyi "an inspiration," visited the Burmese symbol of nonviolent resistance at her residence, where two of the world's most famous female politicians hugged, held hands and shared a predilection for a wardrobe shaded in blue. "We are happy with the way in which the United States is engaging with us," Suu Kyi said, "and it is through engagement that we hope to promote a process of democratization."
Clinton's Nov. 30-Dec. 2 visit to Burma, officially known as Myanmar, has excited residents of Rangoon (or Yangon). Far from sympathizing with the moral suasion of a U.S. policy of sanctions (and an attendant sense of isolation that was only heightened by the bunkered mentality of Burma's generals), most Burmese I know pine for engagement with the West. As Clinton met with Suu Kyi inside her villa, an elderly man with erect bearing strolled near the gate to her home dressed in a crisp oxford shirt and Burmese sarong, or longyi. A retired government official who speaks precise English, he said he was pleased that "the two ladies are meeting." (The pair of women met twice, once for a private dinner and once at Suu Kyi's home.) Burma, long a pariah state due to its recalcitrant generals and atrocious human-rights record, "has for round about 50 years been separated from the world," he said. "It is high time we join the brotherhood of nations again." The formality of his words was touching, as if the political idealism of an older, more genteel age had been preserved in this one retired Burmese bureaucrat.
(PHOTOS: Freedom for Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi)
Clinton's visit---the first by a U.S. Secretary of State since 1955, seven years before a military junta grabbed power in Burma---has been hailed as a landmark moment in relations between the two nations. But both sides have downplayed major breakthroughs resulting immediately from her trip. While in the new capital Naypyidaw, which supplanted Rangoon in 2005, Clinton announced some small measures to warm ties between the two nations, like U.S. support for multilateral agencies like the IMF and World Bank to set up shop in Burma. Prior to her arrival in Burma, State Department officials cautioned that there would likely be no announcement on plans to lift U.S. sanctions on Burma, which were put in place because of the Southeast Asian nation's human-rights abuses.
Indeed, when Clinton and Suu Kyi addressed the press after their morning meeting at Suu Kyi's home, neither mentioned the issue of sanctions specifically. Many Western governments maintain trade restrictions on Burma, but the country's skyrocketing trade with its neighbors, most notably China, has made it harder to choke the regime economically. For years, Suu Kyi's support for sanctions has been matched with equal backing from Western governments. Since her release in November 2010, Suu Kyi has said that she would be open to sanctions being lifted should the Burmese government fulfill certain conditions, such as releasing political prisoners and pursuing peace with ethnic minorities who have suffered decades of abuse by the military. If Suu Kyi were to publicly announce that she thinks the financial restrictions should end, foreign governments would likely agree. Such is her moral power.
(MORE: "Burma's New Hope: A Repressive Regime Loosens Its Grip, for Now.")
After meeting with Suu Kyi, Clinton headed to meet with members of Burma's ethnic groups, who make up roughly 40% of the country's population. (The majority ethnic group is called Bamar, or Burman.) Even as Clinton's trip was being planned, fighting was flaring in northern Kachin State between the Burmese military and an ethnic rebel army. The Kachin, also known as the Jinghpaw or Jingpo, are a largely Christian population who have long chafed at the brutal rule of the Burmese regime. Even though the Kachin were legendary during World War II as brave fighters, they have not been able to penetrate the top ranks of the Burmese army because of discrimination. In recent weeks, Kachin NGOs have alleged systematic rape and torture committed against their ethnicity by Burmese soldiers. Tens of thousands of Kachin have been displaced by the fighting over the past couple months, according to local aid organizations. Kachin and Burmese delegations are currently meeting in China to discuss potential peace negotiations, but such talks have collapsed before. (However, on Friday, another ethnic army in Shan state appeared to have signed a ceasefire with the government.)
As Burma eased away from British rule, Suu Kyi's father, independence hero Aung San, worked hard to bring unity among the new nation's diverse ethnics, as they are known in Burma. In the historic 1947 Panglong agreement, he promised that members of three ethnic groups---the Kachin, the Shan and the Chin---would be given significant autonomy and the right to secede from the Burmese union if they were not happy with the country's course. But soon after, Aung San was assassinated. The Bamar military rulers who eventually took over had little sympathy for the ethnics.
Battles raged for decades between various ethnic rebel militias and the Burmese army. Although ceasefires were eventually imposed in most areas, fighting erupted again two years ago and heightened this year, as the Burmese pressured the ethnics to give up their guns and instead join a "border-guard force" under Burmese command. That plan has largely been sidelined for now, but resentment still seethes because of continuing human-rights abuses. The Kachin, in particular, have shied away from signing a ceasefire they worry will degrade what autonomy they have. Much of Burma's rich natural-resource load, from hydropower to timber, is concentrated in ethnic areas, and the "nationalities," as some ethnic minorities prefer to call themselves, feel they are not sharing fully in the wealth such treasures generate.
Suu Kyi has made the ethnic issue a precondition of her support to lifting sanctions. But there's a worry among the ethnics that if relations between the U.S. and Burma improve, their concerns will be lost in the overall glow of a new political era. "What I would like to tell Mrs. Hillary Clinton is that it's not just [Aung San Suu Kyi] who has been fighting for many years against the government," said one ethnic who was to meet with Clinton on Friday. "We have been, too, and [our people] have lost many lives. Don't forget about us, please."
Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/12/02/as-burma-and-the-u-s-grow-closer-could-the-plight-of-ethnic-burmese-be-forgotten/#ixzz1fODsVVzq
The political upheavals of the Arab Spring have been of such proportions that fundamental and irreversible changes are expected throughout the Mideast and Arab Africa in 2012, with possible copycat effects elsewhere. Whether such expectations will be fulfilled will depend on many factors, not least the degree of commitment by those who wish to create a brave new future. I'm thinking of commitment here as passion, in the social theorist Max Weber's sense of passionate dedication to a cause.
Were the peoples of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya led to topple seemingly indestructible regimes by such passion, or were they merely moved by what Weber denigrated as "sterile excitement?" It would surely be sophistry to label as sterile an outcry that led to such convulsive results. It might be argued, though, that the emotion fueling the Arab Spring was the kind that burns itself out speedily, after setting off the first sparks of defiance.
If the original impulse needed some help to turn those first sparks into a full-scale conflagration, another more effective catalyst must have been at work. Could that have been power? People power, or IT power or the power of global democratic solidarity or, simply, in the end, military power, either the use of it or the decision to refrain from using it?
Power is by nature latent until a force sets it in motion. What starts up the engines of power, whether they be tanks and fighter jets and nuclear weapons or diverse individuals linked by a shared cause and modern technology? The means to unleash power that could change frontiers or crush men and their aspirations can become active only when an initial force sweeps away irresolution and inhibitions. The power of defiance, too, needs that first impulse to encourage passive individuals to put aside the inaction fostered by decades of fear or by natural human caution.
So then, is it "passion vs. power?" Does it have to be versus? Are passion and power natural opposites, or mutually exclusive in promoting political change, either of the ordinary variety brought about through constitutional processes in established democracies, or of the revolutionary brand that reshapes the destinies of peoples and nations?
There is also the kind of change that defeats easy categorization. The U.S. presidential election of 2008 was certainly not ordinary, but whether the election of Barack Obama should be regarded as a seismic event in the history of the United States or just a political landmark is a matter of opinion. There can, however, be no controversy about the outcome of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa; it changed the political landscape of the nation, and it changed perceptions with regard to race and color the world over.
What prevented the now toppled regimes of Tunisia and Egypt from using all their administrative and military might? What convinced the despots of Libya and Syria to make war on their own people? And what made the anti-government forces of Libya and Syria persist even after it was clear the fight would be prolonged and brutal?
Is there not, behind the iron mask of autocracy, the flesh and blood of human will, just as there is a steely, collective will behind a motley, unarmed crowd determined to exercise its right to cry out its woes and perhaps even to take up arms to assert that right? And is not will --- which is, after all, deliberate, controlled purpose --- closely joined to passion? It may be joined either as an intense, transitory emotion, which may well be no more than "sterile excitement," or as a long-term, firmly rooted dedication to principles or a cause --- something as broad as freedom or as limited as self-preservation.
As a member of a movement that has been engaged in a long struggle to effect change through nonviolent means, I have learned to value above all other attributes in colleagues and supporters disinterested, active commitment. Such commitment is seldom given to pyrotechnic display, but it is always there, and it provides constant assurance that the essential flame that keeps our cause vibrant will not die out. It is passion, not of the sterile breed, but passion that moves hearts and minds and makes history. It is passion that translates into power. When such passion is brought to bear on public issues, it is a potent instrument for political and social change.
In Burma, again and again, the most active members of our party and other forces committed to the struggle have been placed under detention, their voices silenced, their faces almost forgotten by the public. Again and again they have emerged, arousing the world to their cries. In 2002, after I was released from my second term of house arrest, I toured the country, and the commitment of our supporters translated into large, enthusiastic rallies that made the authorities feel the power of our passion. Quite recently, concern over the fate of our Irrawaddy River united peoples from all walks of life. Our passionate appeal for a reappraisal of the dam project was so powerful that the president announced the suspension of the project for the duration of his term.
Can the process be reversed, can power become passion? Power that effects political change cannot be defined as an isolated, unique brand different from all other powers. Party power, money power, media power, pressure group power and many other powers strongly influence political evolution and revolution. Power as the authority of the ruler(s) backed by the machinery of state might, however, be considered a contrast to passion. The distinction between despotic power and democratically invested power is relevant here.
When do those in authority wish to work for political change? The impulse of those who hold the powers of state is generally toward conservation, not transformation. Only when problems arise, and not always then, do rulers begin to consider the need for change. Intelligent rulers are quick to grasp when change becomes unavoidable. But realizing the need for change is not the same as having the means to make it possible.
In pluralistic societies, government alone cannot bring about change. Many other players are involved. The bipartisan negotiations to push through the U.S. debt deal that did not seem to please anybody demonstrated that the president of the United States does not have sufficient means to effect the change that not only he but many of his countrymen consider necessary.
If presidential power can be considered an impetus toward change, it is one that is easily dissipated by other powers. Commitment, perseverance, persuasion, the ability to win hearts and minds can be counterweights to these opposing powers. Passion can fill in the gaps when power alone is not enough.
It is easier for an authoritarian government untroubled by counteracting powers or passions to act in accordance with its own will. A ruthless despot allowed to proceed unchecked can change not just the political scene but the very psyche of a nation. For a time. Under Stalin's brutal absolutism, terror seeped into the very bones of citizens and made them unrecognizable to themselves. For a time. Then the despot died, and the country woke from its nightmare. People began to ask what had happened and why. Did power alone transform a whole society? What enabled Stalin to exercise power with such single-minded brutality?
Whether Stalin was fired by dedication to a cause or whether personal ambition motivated him, it could be said the element that initially fueled his ruthless machine was passion, albeit of the worst kind. As his iron rule continued, an all-consuming preoccupation with the preservation of his inviolability, obsession rather than passion, moved him to commit some of the greatest political crimes in history.
Stalin was not alone in establishing his reign of terror. Vast numbers collaborated, and some of those who did so consciously and willingly were fired by passion: as commitment to the political and social changes they believed Stalin would achieve for their country or as dedication to the man himself. Power can generate passion; and power needs passion as its agent.
In all its might, power is less self-sufficient than passion; passion generates its own power. Passion is in itself a kind of power that is by its very nature a kinetic force.
Power, on the other hand, tends naturally toward entrenchment. When power moves in the direction of political change, it usually does so because external forces --- from popular uprisings to poll predictions --- have become irresistible.
Passion is more effective than power as an impetus for political change. Meaningful political change, however, needs to be sustainable. For that, passion and power must work together as mutually supportive partners.
We all wish for change, but there is no guarantee that change will take place or that it will live up to expectations. There is always an element of risk when we step out into the unknown. The greatest challenge for Burma and the countries of the Arab Spring, as well as all peoples who hope to enjoy the flowers and fruits of their endeavors in 2012, will be to bring wisdom to bear on passion and power, to create a blend of the two that is both effective and wholesome.
Aung San Suu Kyi was born in 1945 in Burma, now called Myanmar. Her father, the nation's independence hero, was assassinated when she was 2. She left the country as a teenager when her mother was named an ambassador, then returned from Britain in 1988 and became a pro-democracy leader. She won the Nobel Peace Price in 1991, one of 15 years she spent under house arrest.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/opinion/magazine-global-agenda-the-essential-flame.html?pagewanted=2&_r=3&src=twrhp
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Posted at 07:16 AM ET, 12/02/2011
Hillary Clinton in Burma: kisses for Suu Kyi, handshake for the president
By Debbi Wilgoren
There was no giggling when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met the former general who runs Burma's oppressive government.
There were smiles (measured), of course, and handshakes, and ceremonial visits to historic sites and shrines. But the outreach was tempered by wariness and recognition that the first visit of a U.S. secretary of state to Burma in half a century carries with it no small amount of risk. It was only when Clinton sat down to dinner with another of the world's most famous female leaders that the laughter, and good will, really began to flow.
"For decades, the choices of this country's leaders kept it apart from the global economy and the community of nations," Clinton said after meeting President Thein Sein. "While the measures already taken may be unprecedented and welcomed, they are just a beginning."
Hours later, Clinton sat outside at a glass-and-wrought-iron patio table with Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's best-known opposition leader and a Nobel peace laureate, for an intimate private dinner.
Their choices of hairstyle--Clinton's tresses held back with a scrunchy, Suu Kyi's with an cluster of flowers--did not go unnoticed, with the Post's Style Tumblr writing dubbing the image of them together: "Power to the Ponytails."
Though the women had spoken previously by telephone, it was the first time that Clinton--who calls Suu Kyi an "inspiration," had met the dissident leader in person.
Clinton traveled to Suu Kyi's home on Friday for additional talks. The women greeted each other with kisses on the cheek, and spoke briefly to reporters afterward. They held hands at one point during the news conference, then paused, laughed and hugged before saying goodbye. The chief U.S. diplomat brought a chew toy for the Nobel laureate's guard dog.
"Chew away, chew away,"Clinton told the pooch.
"Keep your distance," Suu Kyi warned, "He thinks that people who stand close to me are a threat." http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/hillary-clinton-in-burma-warm-relations-with-suu-kyi-light-up-visit/2011/12/02/gIQAXVOIKO_blog.html
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Suu Kyi hopeful of democratic reform in Burma
SHAUN TANDON YANGON, BURMA - Dec 02 2011 15:27
Aung San Suu Kyi voiced guarded hope on Friday that democracy would come to Burma as the opposition leader warmly welcomed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the home that was her prison for years.
In scenes unthinkable before Burma's recent reforms, Suu Kyi took Clinton by the arm and escorted her through the garden of her crumbling lakeside villa in the commercial hub Yangon where she was locked up until a year ago.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner said she supported Clinton's trip a day earlier to Burma's remote capital Naypyidaw and believed the nation had reached a "historic moment".
"I am very confident that if we work together ... there will be no turning back from the road to democracy," Suu Kyi said next to a beaming Clinton on a back porch surrounded by potted plants.
More needed to be done by the new military-backed government "but we hope to get there as soon as possible", Suu Kyi added.
Clinton, who is the first US secretary of state to visit Burma in more than 50 years, nodded in agreement and said she saw "openings" during her three-day trip that "give us some grounds for encouragement".
'Inspiration'
The wife of former president Bill Clinton has spent decades hobnobbing with the world's most powerful but was visibly excited to meet Suu Kyi, repeatedly embracing the democracy champion and kissing her on the cheeks.
Clinton and Suu Kyi, two of the world's most prominent women, also met away from aides for an expansive dinner on Thursday night at the US diplomatic mission whose chef prepared foods especially chosen to please Suu Kyi.
Clinton's aides said she even brought from the US a chewy toy for Suu Kyi's small but energetic dog. Suu Kyi nonetheless gave Clinton a friendly warning that her dog was sometimes aggressive towards strangers. http://mg.co.za/article/2011-12-02-suu-kyi-hopeful-of-democratic-reform-in-burma/
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Hillary Clinton Burma visit raises hopes political prisoners will be released
By Dean Nelson, South Asia Editor
1:06PM GMT 02 Dec 2011
CommentsComment
Her visit was welcomed by both the country's Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the influential speaker of its parliament who promised to press for more prisoner releases.
After meeting the US Secretary of State on Thursday, Thura Shwe Mann, speaker of Burma's lower house legislature said he had pledged new efforts to allow political prisoners to join the dialogue for reform.
"She urged Burma to release political prisoners. In response, I said I pledged that we will do as much as we can in order that all citizens including political prisoners can be involved in building the nation and for the sake of national reconciliation," he said after meeting Mrs Clinton in the capital Naypyitaw.
His comments raised hopes that more prisoners may be released in time to campaign in a series of by-elections expected in Spring next year.
Mrs Clinton, who is the highest level US official to visit Burma for more than 50 years, had raised the issue forcefully during her meetings with the speaker and the country's president Thein Sein. "No person in any country should be detained for exercising universal freedoms of expression, assembly and conscience," she had told him.
There was disappointment in October when around 200 political prisoners of were released despite hopes the figure would be much higher. They included high profile detainees like the comedian-activist Zarganar, who voiced anger on his release that around 1000 of his fellow dissidents remained in jail.
After meeting Mrs Clinton at her home in Rangoon on Friday, Ms Suu Kyi welcomed American support for Burma's democracy movement.
"I am very confident that if we work together... there will be no turning back from the road to democracy," she said. The military-supported government had a long way to go, she said, "but we hope to get there as soon as possible."
The government must end human rights abuses, hostilities against ethnic rebels, release all political prisoners and ensure "that no more are arrested in the future for their beliefs," she said.
Mrs Clinton added that she would give Burma's leaders a chance to ensure accountability for the past, rather than call for a war crimes investigation.
"We are going to support the principle of accountability and the appropriate mechanism to ensure justice and accountability will be considered," she said.
"But I think it's important to try to give the new government and the opposition a chance to try to demonstrate they have their own approach toward achieving that."
Mrs Clinton ended her visit with a pledge that Washington will match the Burmese government's reforms "action for action."
"And if there is enough progress, obviously we will be considering lifting sanctions," she said. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/8931107/Hillary-Clinton-Burma-visit-raises-hopes-political-prisoners-will-be-released.html
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Clinton visit could signal closer US-Myanmar ties
02/12/2011
Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed US engagement with Myanmar as its new civilian government pledged to move forward with political reforms.
The pro-democracy campaigner met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the most senior American official to visit Myanmar in 50 years, and the two discussed the road ahead.
Standing alongside Clinton, Suu Kyi told the press outside her home: Before we decide what steps to take, we have to find out what our greatest needs are, and of course, two of the greatest needs in this country are rule of law and a cessation of civil war. All hostilities mush cease within this country as soon as possible.
Earlier in her visit, Clinton talked about possibly ending US sanctions, providing real progress is made on reforms.
Democracy is the goal. That has been the goal from the very beginning. Yet we know that it has been a long and very difficult path that has been followed. We do see openings today, she said.
In a meeting with the countrys president on Thursday, the US Secretary of State agreed to Americas support on changes to the relationship between Myanmar and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and expanding United Nations aid programmes.
A full US ambassador could also be reinstated in Myanmar.
http://www.euronews.net/2011/12/02/clinton-visit-could-signal-closer-us-myanmar-ties/
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In Myanmar, Government Reforms Win Over Some Skeptics
International Herald Tribune
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: November 29, 2011
YANGON, Myanmar --- The waves of change sweeping Myanmar are trickling down to the broken sidewalks and potholed streets of this dilapidated city.
Automated teller machines, ubiquitous in the world's major cities but absent here during years of economic stagnation, are now being installed at a handful of banks.
Street vendors hawk coffee mugs, key chains and posters adorned with pictures of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's main opposition leader, whose name and image were taboo during two decades of military dictatorship.
The government's changes --- rapid and unexpected, though still far from complete --- are winning over some of the country's deepest skeptics of the military-backed civilian government that came to power in March.
"What has happened in these last few months is a miracle for us," said Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, an opposition leader and former political prisoner whose family suffered years of persecution by the military.
"To be frank, in the very beginning, I didn't believe a word of what they were saying," she said of the new government. "Now I believe what is happening is for the good of the people."
In a significant vote of confidence for the new government after years of international ostracism, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to arrive in Myanmar on Wednesday, where she will meet with the new president as well as Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. Workers have laid a fresh layer of sod and repainted the gates of the opposition leader's house in anticipation.
Mrs. Clinton's visit is the first by a secretary of state since 1955. The changes in Myanmar have provided an opening to better relations with the United States at a time when the Obama administration is courting Southeast Asian nations as China asserts its influence in the region.
Mrs. Clinton will be touring Myanmar in the midst of what many see as the initial steps in a historic transformation toward democracy.
Since his inauguration in March, President Thein Sein has worked with the country's newly established Parliament to pass a raft of new laws and regulations. Labor unions have been legalized, the Internet has been mostly freed of heavy censorship, and proposals are being drawn up to overhaul the country's dysfunctional banking system. The government has also freed a number of political prisoners.
As the pace of change accelerated in recent months, observers debated why the former military men leading the government would be willing to cede nearly absolute power to pursue democratic changes and embrace dissidents officials have persecuted for decades. Mr. Thein Sein was a member of the junta that repeatedly crushed dissent before becoming president.
The answer, according to one of the president's advisers, is that Mr. Thein Sein realized that the country could no longer ignore the world around it.
"The president was convinced about the global situation; he saw where the global stream was heading," said U Nay Zin Latt, the adviser.
In one of the most crucial moves for establishing the legitimacy of the new government, Mr. Thein Sein has successfully courted Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. Her party, the National League for Democracy, recently said it would officially reregister and compete in coming elections for a number of parliamentary seats.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi's views carry significant weight inside and outside the country. President Obama called her before announcing Mrs. Clinton's visit. Inside Myanmar, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is a mother figure whose decade and a half of house arrest earned her deep credibility and loyalty.
"When I talk to Aung San Suu Kyi, she says, 'Forget the past,' " Ms. Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein said. "She says have faith in Thein Sein. If she says that, we must have faith in him."
Ms. Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein, who was imprisoned for seven years for opposing the military, has ample reasons to mistrust the government. Her father --- a former deputy prime minister who was in power during the last visit by an American secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, in the 1950s --- was jailed for seven years. Her mother was detained for three years, and so was her former husband.
But in an interview on Tuesday, she said she was very excited about Mrs. Clinton's visit and her meeting with Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi.
"Let the two smart women talk," she said. "It's unbelievable that Mrs. Clinton is visiting us." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/world/asia/in-myanmar-government-reforms-win-over-countrys-skeptics.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=world
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The Washington Post
Hillary Clinton, Aung San Suu Kyi discuss Burma's road to democracy
Saul Loeb/AP - Burma's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton meet at Suu Kyi's residence in Rangoon, Burma, on Friday.
By William Wan, Friday, December 2, 2:33 PM
RANGOON, Burma --- Hillary Rodham Clinton visited the home of Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday for a meeting that was both personal and formal as two of the world's most famous female political figures discussed the sudden and unexpected signs of reforms in Burma.
The meeting between the U.S. secretary of state and the leader of Burma's long-persecuted democracy movement --- unthinkable just three months ago --- was yet another sign of the incredible changes afoot in Burma.
"If we go forward together I'm confident there will be no turning back from the road to democracy. We are not on that road yet, but we hope to get there as soon as possible with our friends," Suu Kyi told reporters afterward in a news conference, a rare occurrence for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has spent much of the past two decades under house arrest ordered by Burma's military-controlled government.
Both said that more progress needed to be made by Burma's President Thein Sein and others in his government for true reform to take hold. And Suu Kyi emphasized the need for rule of law, calling on the government to not only release all remaining political prisoners but to change its policies to prevent the continuation of such human rights violations.
Clinton --- the first senior U.S. official to visit Burma, also known as Myanmar, in half a century --- called Suu Kyi "an inspiration." The pair had met for a private dinner the night before, and in their meeting Friday morning, the two evinced a closeness and admiration in the statements and body language --- greeting each other with a kiss on the cheek, holding hands at one point in the news conference and hesitating awkwardly at the end then bursting into laughter as they hugged each other goodbye.
The meeting took place at the home that Suu Kyi's family has long owned --- the compound where she spent most of the past two decades under house arrest. Suu Kyi introduced Clinton to the female doctor who took care of her during that arrest, to her chefs and even her guard dog, for whom Clinton had brought a chew toy gift.
"Chew away, chew away,"Clinton told the dog.
"Keep your distance," Suu Kyi warned, "He thinks that people who stand close to me are a threat."
In her comments, Suu Kyi seemed to be readying herself for her return to politics, having confirmed this week that she planned to run in next year's parliamentary elections. Her last effort in 1990 culminated in a decisive win for her party, which was annulled by the military junta amid one of many crackdowns on democracy leaders.
In talking about the need for more education and health facilities in Burma, Suu Kyi said, "Whatever [we] do in predominantly Burmese area, [we] hope to match in ethnic areas," referencing the long-standing rift between ethnic minorities, which has led to civil war in some areas that continues today.
And she was careful to mention the importance of maintaining friendly ties to China --- Burma's longstanding ally whose growing power of late has led to Burma's overtures to the United States.
Clinton also met civil society organizations on Friday and leaders of Burma's ethnic minorities, who have suffered violence and killings for years at the hands of the Burmese military. Women advocates planned to ask for her help in stopping the military's use of rape as weapon of war to control villages opposing the military-backed government. Human rights activists along the Thailand-Burma border say they have documented 81 cases of rape since March alone, including those of a nine-month pregnant woman and a schoolgirl in front of her mother. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/hillary-clinton-aung-san-suu-kyi-discuss-burmas-road-to-democracy/2011/12/02/gIQAUEHdJO_story.html
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Clinton, Suu Kyi promote closer US-Burma ties
In a striking display of solidarity and sisterhood between two of the world's most recognizable women, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi vowed on Friday to work together to promote democratic reforms in Suu Kyi's long-isolated and authoritarian homeland.
By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press
YANGON, Myanmar --- In a striking display of solidarity and sisterhood between two of the world's most recognizable women, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi vowed on Friday to work together to promote democratic reforms in Suu Kyi's long-isolated and authoritarian homeland.
Wrapping up a historic three-day visit to Myanmar, the first by a secretary of state to the Southeast Asian nation in more than 50 years, Clinton and Suu Kyi held hands on the porch of the lakeside home where the Nobel peace laureate spent much of the past two decades under house arrest. Clinton thanked her for her "steadfast and very clear leadership."
Suu Kyi has welcomed Clinton's visit and tentatively embraced reforms enacted by Myanmar's new civilian government. She thanked the secretary and U.S. President Barack Obama for their "careful and calibrated" engagement that has seen the United States take some modest steps to improve ties.
"If we move forward together I am confident there will be no turning back on the road to democracy," Suu Kyi said, referring to her opposition National League for Democracy party, the government, the United States and other countries, including Myanmar's giant neighbor China. "We are not on that road yet, but we hope to get there as soon as possible with the help and understanding of our friends."
"We are happy with the way in which the United States is engaging with us," she added. "It is through engagement that we hope to promote the process of democratization. Because of this engagement, I think our way ahead will be clearer and we will be able to trust that the process of democratization will go forward."
As she did in the capital of Naypyidaw on Thursday, Clinton said more significant incentives will be offered, but only if the government releases all political prisoners, ends brutal campaigns against ethnic minorities, respects the rule of law and improves human rights conditions.
"We are prepared to go further if reforms maintain momentum," Clinton said. "But history teaches us to be cautious. We know that there have been serious setbacks and grave disappointments over the past decades."
Clinton's meetings with Suu Kyi were the highlight of the U.S. secretary of state's visit to the long-isolated country known as Burma and forcefully underscored a U.S. challenge to Myanmar's leaders.
In addition to the modest incentives Clinton announced Thursday for the government, she said Friday that the U.S. would spend about $1.2 million for preliminary projects aimed at helping the people of Myanmar. The money will go to microcredit and health care initiatives and assistance to land-mine victims, particularly in rural areas.
Suu Kyi, whose party won 1990 elections that were ignored by the then-military junta but now plans to run in upcoming parliamentary elections, endorsed that approach and called for the immediate release of all political prisoners and cease-fires to end the ethnic conflicts..
Suu Kyi, a heroine for pro-democracy advocates around the world, said Clinton's visit represented "a historical moment for both our countries."
With U.S. assistance and pressure on the government, which is still backed by the military, she said she believed change was on the horizon for Myanmar.
"There have been times that Naypyidaw has weakened but I don't think it has ever really broken," she said.
The meeting was the second in as many days for the pair who bonded deeply at a three-hour, one-on-one dinner in Yangon on Thursday, according to U.S. officials. One senior official said the dinner marked the beginning of what appeared to be a "very warm friendship" between the former first lady, New York senator and presidential hopeful and Suu Kyi, who plans to re-enter the political arena in upcoming parliamentary elections.
"We have been inspired by her fearlessness in the face of intimidation and her serenity through decades of isolation, but most of all through her devotion to her country and to the freedom and dignity of her fellow citizens," Clinton told reporters after the meeting Suu Kyi.
Clinton said the two had discussed the "ups and downs and slings and arrows of political participation" at dinner and that Suu Kyi would be an "excellent member" of Myanmar's parliament but declined to discuss any electoral advice she may have given here.
--- Associated Press writer Aye Aye Win in Yangon contributed to this report. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2016901498_apasclintonmyanmar.html?syndication=rss
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Kachin people look ahead to end war after Clinton's visit
By Zin Linn Dec 02, 2011 10:16PM UTC
A number of international human rights organizations gave warning the United States not to allow Secretary Clinton's high-profile visit to Burma because of the country's cosmetic reforms and that still commits sickening human rights violations, particularly in ethnic areas along Sino-Burma border and Thai-Burma border.
However, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embarked on her first trip to Burma by meeting President Thein Sein and some of his cabinet members in Naypyidaw on Wednesday amid armed ethnic conflicts and political prisoners' issue high on the agenda.
On the same Wednesday morning, Burma Army's soldiers burned down ten homes in Dawhpumyang sub-township in Manmaw (Bhamo) district Kachin state, referring respective villagers Kachin News Group (KNG) reported.
The burned homes were in two small ethnic Shan villages located at the rear of the headquarters of Infantry Battalion No. 142 which is near the Myitkyina-Manmaw highway under the Northern Regional command based in Myitkyina.
The villagers told KNG that at least 10 houses were completely destroyed in Nam Wai village while five homes were leveled in neighboring Hpa Ke village.
The villagers believed the houses were set on fire in retaliation for a mine exploding near the Dawhpumyang battalion base. The Myitkyina-Manmaw road has been the location of fresh fighting between the Kachin Independence Organization and the Burmese armed forces but the homes burnt down were belonged to civilians who never involved in the conflict.
The homes were burnt down the same day a report released by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) accused the Burmese army of torturing and killing large numbers of Kachin villagers during its ongoing anti KIO offensive.
PHR released a report on 30 November detailing human rights abuses committed by the Burmese Army in Kachin State, Burma. PHR's investigation reveals that the much-publicized incremental political changes in central Burma have not translated into improvements for the ethnic populations in the remote areas of Burma.
During Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Burma in December, PHR calls on her to focus on abuses against ethnic minorities.
"This report sheds an important light on the brutal violations suffered every day by the people of Kachin State. While the rest of the world applauds Burma for 'flickers of progress' the ethnic minorities of Burma continue to endure human rights violations as they wait for true change," said Shirley Seng, spokesperson for Kachin Women's Association of Thailand.
PHR found that between June and September 2011, the Burmese army looted food from civilians, fired indiscriminately into villages, threatened villages with attacks, and used civilians as porters and human minesweepers.
Meanwhile, state-owned New Light of Myanmar newspaper yesterday claimed that the explosions were the work of the armed wing of the KIO the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). During a phone interview by Kachin News Group, Lah Nan, Deputy General Secretary-2 of KIO rejected the government's allegations.
"We denounce the government's false accusation. We would never attack or cause explosions in the downtown area," Lah Nan said.
In response to the ongoing atrocities being committed by the Burmese army in its offensive against the KIO, seven Kachin organizations yesterday co signed an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to raise the issue during her trip to Burma.
On Thursday, Ms. Clinton met with President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw. It is unclear if she spoke about the Kachin conflict with Thein Sein, himself a retired General and close ally of the reclusive strongman Than Shwe.
Clinton's advisers turned down to discuss what additional incentives Clinton was bringing on this trip, saying much of that depends on her sense in meetings of the government's readiness to continue reforms.
The two biggest signs of sincerity that U.S. officials say they are looking for are the release of all political prisoners and an end to the violent war between government troops and ethnic minorities.
According to the Washington Post's William Wan in Naypyitaw, quoting U.S. officials, Burma's President Thein Sein spent much of their meeting giving a detailed 45-minute presentation to Clinton about further change.
His plan for reforming areas of his government long criticized by the U.S. and others included: the gradual release of political prisoners, a cease-fire in the war between Burma's military and ethnic minorities, political reform, media freedom and adopting international agreements on nuclear programs to allay suspicions about Burma-North Korea weapons trades.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the release of political prisoners and an end to brutal ethnic violence that has devastated the nation for decades. http://asiancorrespondent.com/71151/kachin-people-look-ahead-to-end-war-after-clinton%E2%80%99s-visit/
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THE TIME (Partner with CNN)
As Burma Engages with the U.S., Could the Plight of the Country's Ethnic Minorities Be Forgotten?
Posted by Hannah Beech Friday, December 2, 2011 at 6:30 am
Nestled next to a placid lake in Burma's largest city, Rangoon, the villa of democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi is a pleasant spot---although no place can be so comfortable as to merit spending much of two decades under house arrest there. In 2009, before the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was released from villa detention by the ruling military junta, an American Vietnam War veteran secretly swam to her home unannounced because he believed he was on a mission from God. The American's surprise visit earned the opposition leader months more under lock and key, after the military regime ludicrously deemed that his entry had broken the conditions of her house arrest.
On Dec. 2, Suu Kyi, now freed for more than a year and gearing up to run in a parliamentary by-election made possible by tentative reforms instituted by Burma's new semi-civilian government, hosted another American at her home. This time, the U.S. visitor was far more welcome. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who dubbed Suu Kyi "an inspiration," visited the Burmese symbol of nonviolent resistance at her residence, where two of the world's most famous female politicians hugged, held hands and shared a predilection for a wardrobe shaded in blue. "We are happy with the way in which the United States is engaging with us," Suu Kyi said, "and it is through engagement that we hope to promote a process of democratization."
Clinton's Nov. 30-Dec. 2 visit to Burma, officially known as Myanmar, has excited residents of Rangoon (or Yangon). Far from sympathizing with the moral suasion of a U.S. policy of sanctions (and an attendant sense of isolation that was only heightened by the bunkered mentality of Burma's generals), most Burmese I know pine for engagement with the West. As Clinton met with Suu Kyi inside her villa, an elderly man with erect bearing strolled near the gate to her home dressed in a crisp oxford shirt and Burmese sarong, or longyi. A retired government official who speaks precise English, he said he was pleased that "the two ladies are meeting." (The pair of women met twice, once for a private dinner and once at Suu Kyi's home.) Burma, long a pariah state due to its recalcitrant generals and atrocious human-rights record, "has for round about 50 years been separated from the world," he said. "It is high time we join the brotherhood of nations again." The formality of his words was touching, as if the political idealism of an older, more genteel age had been preserved in this one retired Burmese bureaucrat.
(PHOTOS: Freedom for Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi)
Clinton's visit---the first by a U.S. Secretary of State since 1955, seven years before a military junta grabbed power in Burma---has been hailed as a landmark moment in relations between the two nations. But both sides have downplayed major breakthroughs resulting immediately from her trip. While in the new capital Naypyidaw, which supplanted Rangoon in 2005, Clinton announced some small measures to warm ties between the two nations, like U.S. support for multilateral agencies like the IMF and World Bank to set up shop in Burma. Prior to her arrival in Burma, State Department officials cautioned that there would likely be no announcement on plans to lift U.S. sanctions on Burma, which were put in place because of the Southeast Asian nation's human-rights abuses.
Indeed, when Clinton and Suu Kyi addressed the press after their morning meeting at Suu Kyi's home, neither mentioned the issue of sanctions specifically. Many Western governments maintain trade restrictions on Burma, but the country's skyrocketing trade with its neighbors, most notably China, has made it harder to choke the regime economically. For years, Suu Kyi's support for sanctions has been matched with equal backing from Western governments. Since her release in November 2010, Suu Kyi has said that she would be open to sanctions being lifted should the Burmese government fulfill certain conditions, such as releasing political prisoners and pursuing peace with ethnic minorities who have suffered decades of abuse by the military. If Suu Kyi were to publicly announce that she thinks the financial restrictions should end, foreign governments would likely agree. Such is her moral power.
(MORE: "Burma's New Hope: A Repressive Regime Loosens Its Grip, for Now.")
After meeting with Suu Kyi, Clinton headed to meet with members of Burma's ethnic groups, who make up roughly 40% of the country's population. (The majority ethnic group is called Bamar, or Burman.) Even as Clinton's trip was being planned, fighting was flaring in northern Kachin State between the Burmese military and an ethnic rebel army. The Kachin, also known as the Jinghpaw or Jingpo, are a largely Christian population who have long chafed at the brutal rule of the Burmese regime. Even though the Kachin were legendary during World War II as brave fighters, they have not been able to penetrate the top ranks of the Burmese army because of discrimination. In recent weeks, Kachin NGOs have alleged systematic rape and torture committed against their ethnicity by Burmese soldiers. Tens of thousands of Kachin have been displaced by the fighting over the past couple months, according to local aid organizations. Kachin and Burmese delegations are currently meeting in China to discuss potential peace negotiations, but such talks have collapsed before. (However, on Friday, another ethnic army in Shan state appeared to have signed a ceasefire with the government.)
As Burma eased away from British rule, Suu Kyi's father, independence hero Aung San, worked hard to bring unity among the new nation's diverse ethnics, as they are known in Burma. In the historic 1947 Panglong agreement, he promised that members of three ethnic groups---the Kachin, the Shan and the Chin---would be given significant autonomy and the right to secede from the Burmese union if they were not happy with the country's course. But soon after, Aung San was assassinated. The Bamar military rulers who eventually took over had little sympathy for the ethnics.
Battles raged for decades between various ethnic rebel militias and the Burmese army. Although ceasefires were eventually imposed in most areas, fighting erupted again two years ago and heightened this year, as the Burmese pressured the ethnics to give up their guns and instead join a "border-guard force" under Burmese command. That plan has largely been sidelined for now, but resentment still seethes because of continuing human-rights abuses. The Kachin, in particular, have shied away from signing a ceasefire they worry will degrade what autonomy they have. Much of Burma's rich natural-resource load, from hydropower to timber, is concentrated in ethnic areas, and the "nationalities," as some ethnic minorities prefer to call themselves, feel they are not sharing fully in the wealth such treasures generate.
Suu Kyi has made the ethnic issue a precondition of her support to lifting sanctions. But there's a worry among the ethnics that if relations between the U.S. and Burma improve, their concerns will be lost in the overall glow of a new political era. "What I would like to tell Mrs. Hillary Clinton is that it's not just [Aung San Suu Kyi] who has been fighting for many years against the government," said one ethnic who was to meet with Clinton on Friday. "We have been, too, and [our people] have lost many lives. Don't forget about us, please."
Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/12/02/as-burma-and-the-u-s-grow-closer-could-the-plight-of-ethnic-burmese-be-forgotten/#ixzz1fODsVVzq
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