U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Burma to release political prisoners. In response, Thura Shwe Mann (speaker of the Burmese Lower House) said he 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,”
Burma’s big hope is that the U.S. will lift economic sanctions against the country, which were put in place after the former military regime attacked and killed hundreds of peaceful demonstrators in 1988 and began a systematic imprisonment of pro-democracy activists. In the press conference, Thura Shwe Mann denied that Burma had tried to get North Korean nuclear technology.
The Lower House speaker also said Clinton told him that the U.S. will watch Burma’s efforts to move toward democracy, and pledged to reward it with aid to education, health and social programs.
Clinton said in a press conference that the US is not ready to lift sanctions against Burma until it sees further concrete progress in reforms, including the release of political prisoners, a resolution to the bloody fighting in ethnic areas, a more open democratic system that guarantees political parties the right to open offices and travel to all areas of the country, and an end to Burma’s “illicit” dealings with North Korea involving missiles and nuclear technology.
Meanwhile, on Thursday 70 people including Burmese activists and others staged a demonstration at the U.S. consulate in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, urging the Burmese government to bring peace to ethnic areas and to release all political prisoners.
Nyan Win, a spokesman for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, welcomed the U.S. package of rewards and said, "The incentives will help promote better relations and a better future for the country, and I hope the government will expand its reform process."
Burmese officials hope Clinton's visit, which started on Wednesday, opens a new chapter in U.S.-Burma relations. Burma’s overriding goal is a lifting of Western economic sanctions. The AP said that Clinton's historic journey is a culmination of behind-the-scenes overtures since a newly elected President Barack Obama told the world's despotic regimes in 2009 that the "US will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Since then, Burma has released pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi from house arrest, installed an elected government, and opened a dialogue with Suu Kyi, offering Washington just enough of an opening to re-engage.
Three key sticking points block better relations: the remaining political prisoners in Burmese jails, a civil war it has waged against ethnic armed groups, and its illicit dealings with North Korea, which the U.S. believes could involve missile and nuclear technology.
For Burma, better U.S. relations offer a potential flow of badly needed aid and over time even a military relationship with access to U.S. technology and expertise. Better relations also would allow Burma to play off its dependency on China, its prime benefactor in terms of aid and lucrative energy deals involving oil, gas and hydropower. Burma benefits from its strategic position between India, China and Southeast Asia. The AP quoted David Steinberg, the director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., saying: "They do feel that they are in such a solid position that they can begin to do things that they could not do before."