The State Department
unveiled its new approach to Burma yesterday, giving some details of the new U.S.
policy of mixing engagement with pressure. Congress will get its chance to
weigh in tomorrow, when Burma is the focus of a hearing
led by engagement champion and Virginia Senator Jim
Webb.
Assistant Secretary of
State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt
Campbell will be the star witness at tomorrow's Senate hearing, which will
also include Burmese historian Thant
Myint-U and Georgetown University scholar
David Steinberg, both of whom are sympathetic to Webb's position.
Webb is not waiting
for anyone to endorse his engagement policy, however. He agreed to meet
with Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein
in New York, only the latest of his many meetings with Burmese officials since
his trip there last month. Webb's shuttle diplomacy between Burma, Washington,
and New York has come under fire from some Burmese pro-democracy groups and
from the neoconservative
foreign-policy crowd.
Campbell previewed
his testimony, and the administration's new Burma policy, in a State Department
press conference on Monday.
"For the first time
in memory, the Burmese leadership has shown an interest in engaging with the
United States, and we intend to explore that interest," Campbell said, quickly
noting that recently renewed
ties between Burmese leaders and North Korea spoke to the urgency of
engaging Burma.
Using a step-by-step
approach, the United States will have a direct dialogue with Burmese military
leadership, and lift sanctions only after progress is shown on the Burmese
side, Campbell said. Human rights will be part of the discussions, as well as
Burmese compliance with U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1874 and 1718,
which severely restrict North Korea's ability to import or export weapons.
"In terms of
sanctions, we will maintain existing sanctions until we see concrete progress
towards reform," Campbell said, "We recognize that this will likely be a long
and difficult process."
He also promised
that the United States would continue to press for the release of Nobel Peace Prize-winner
Aung San Suu Kyi, who apparently is open to
discussing the lifting of sanctions, according to Thailand's pro-democracy Irrawaddy
newspaper.
Junko Kimura/Getty Images
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