Bush to criticize Myanmar during Asia trip

[Harold Schiffman]

Bush to criticize Myanmar during Asia trip

The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 6, 2008

BANGKOK, Thailand: U.S. President George W. Bush is set to deliver a
thumping broadside against Myanmar and meet with Burmese dissidents
who have heaped praise on his tough policy toward its military rulers.
First lady Laura Bush will add ammunition with a trip to see Myanmar
refugees at the Thai border. But these salvos during the U.S.
president's 24-hour visit to Thailand on Thursday are unlikely to
alter the hard-line course charted by Myanmar's generals who have time
and again failed to respond to international pressure for democratic
change.

Analysts suggest Bush might do better by taking up the issue with
leaders in China, Myanmar's closest ally with at least some leverage
over its leadership. From Thailand, Bush travels on to Beijing where
he will attend the Olympic Games.

"If there is going to be any real change in Burma, China has to be on
board," said Larry Jagan, a Bangkok-based newspaper columnist and
Myanmar analyst. "If Bush is able — and I believe that he will have
the opportunity to discuss this with very senior leadership in China
and get them on board — then we may see things significantly change
after the Olympics."

Most analysts, however, see little prospect for change, at least in
the near-term.

In interviews with Asian media last week, Bush telegraphed that he and
his wife — who has emerged as one of the world's toughest critics of
Myanmar's government — would renew their criticism of the military
dictatorship and call for the release of the country's democracy icon,
Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Here is a very heroic woman that was elected overwhelmingly by her
people and has now been under house arrest by a group of military guys
that just simply won't allow the will of the people to flourish," the
president said in a White House interview with The Nation, an
English-language daily in Thailand.

Bush, making what is expected to be his last trip to Asia as
president, is also to deliver a sweeping address on Asia policy. The
White House released the text of the speech nearly 18 hours in
advance, as Bush flew to Thailand from South Korea.

Standing out were comments on China's human rights record.

"America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political
dissidents, human rights advocates and religious activists," Bush is
to say in the marquee speech of his Asia trip. "We speak out for a
free press, freedom of assembly and labor rights — not to antagonize
China's leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom
is the only way for China to develop its full potential."

The president will be in Bangkok on the eve of an event much heralded
by Myanmar's anti-government forces: the 20th anniversary of an Aug.
8, 1988, pro-democracy uprising, which was brutally crushed by the
military.

Reports from Myanmar, also known as Burma, indicate that stifling
security is likely to quash any protests to mark the anniversary.

In Thailand, most dissidents praise the Bush administration for
stepping up sanctions against Myanmar, including a ban last month on
the import of rubies and jade from the country — major earners for the
dictatorship.

"Bush's genuinely principled stand," read the headline of an article
Wednesday in the Bangkok Post by Aung Zaw, one of more than half a
dozen exiles who are to have lunch with Bush during his stop in
Southeast Asia.

"We are very pleased with his very active policy on Burma. I think he
does his best regarding his foreign policy (toward the regime) and
will as well in his speech," said Zin Linn, a former political
prisoner and exile.

The dissidents say tougher sanctions by more countries are needed.

Bush agreed in his interview with The Nation.

"The idea of unilateral sanctions, they're effective only to a certain
extent. And therefore, other countries must also join and frankly
there's some countries in the neighborhood that aren't interested in
joining," he told the newspaper.

His remarks were clearly aimed at China.

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej regards himself as a friend of
Myanmar's generals. After a visit earlier this year, he said he had
newfound respect for them after learning that they meditate like good
Buddhists.

Still, the Thai government has not balked at prospect of the Bushes
using the country as a platform to attack Myanmar's junta.

Laura Bush is to visit a refugee camp in Mae La, just over the border
from Myanmar in Thailand. The camp is home to 38,000 refugees from the
Karen community, an ethnic minority that human rights organizations
say is the target of an ongoing Myanmar military campaign marked by
murders of civilians, rapes and razing of villages. Myanmar denies the
charges and says it is battling Karen insurgents.

Mrs. Bush also plans to spend time at the Mae Tao Clinic, run by Dr.
Cynthia Maung, a Karen Christian refugee who provides medical care on
the Thai side of the border for more than 50,000 people from Myanmar
every year. Medical care is lacking in Myanmar, and many of her
patients trek to her health center from deep within Myanmar. Known as
the "Mother Teresa of Burma," the doctor has received the Ramon
Magsaysay Award, Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize, for her
humanitarian work.

Bush and his Thai hosts will also mark 175 years of relations, which
began with an 1833 treaty and gifts of a ceremonial sword, gold watch
and silver basket from President Andrew Jackson to King Rama III.

The visit is not expected to have much impact on bilateral relations,
said Surachart Bamrungsuk, a political scientist at Bangkok's
Chulalongkorn University.

"Thailand, like other Southeast Asian countries, have not been the
main agenda since the Cold War ended," he said. "His term is also
coming to an end. (The visit) is unlikely to define future Thai-U.S.
relations."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/06/asia/AS-Thailand-Myanmar-Bush.php
Copyright (c) 2008 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
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