Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – As Burmese go to the polls on Sunday, US President Barack Obama will be in the middle of a 10-day Asian tour aimed at bolstering Washington’s regional engagement strategy and domestic job creation.
“The whole focus [of the trip] is on how are we going to open up markets so that American businesses can prosper, and we can sell more goods and create more jobs here in the United States,” Obama told reporters on Wednesday.
The president, embarking on his trip today, will be visiting India, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia. One regional country, however, that is unlikely to benefit the American job market is Burma, with Washington’s engagement approach apparently stalled and strict sanctions remaining in place.
National Security Council (NSC) spokesman Mike Hammer said yesterday there was no sign of willingness on the part of Burma’s generals to alter their behaviour and engage with Washington.
Nonetheless, in an effort to revitalise engagement with troubled governments in the region, most notably North Korea and Burma, Washington is turning to democratic allies.
“It’s not a coincidence necessarily that we’re going to four Asian democracies on this trip – India, Indonesia, Korea and Japan,” the NSC’s Ben Rhodes said. “As the president discussed, we want to underscore the success of democracy in Asia and around the world and we’re going to speak specifically to human rights and democracy-related issues … at every stop.”
While Japan and South Korea play important roles in attempts to deal with North Korea, Washington appears to be targeting Indonesia for assistance in dealing with Burma.
“The elections will have just occurred in Burma a few days earlier [November 7] – elections which will not be free and fair, in our view, but we will certainly want to talk to [Indonesian] President [Susilo Bambang] Yudhoyono about next steps,” Jeff Bader, also said during a press gathering last week.
Rhodes reinforced the view, holding up Indonesia as an example of what Burma was not, a country “embracing democracy and expanding human rights to their citizens”.
Obama will also meet other regional leaders, including his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, on the sidelines during his tour.
