The top US diplomat for Southeast Asia said on Thursday the US will continue to press Burma's military government for political reform despite recent conciliatory gestures from Burmese officials.
"We have had a strategy over the last couple of years with regard to Burma [that] has really been to try to push along both a bilateral track and multilateral track," said Eric John, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
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Following meetings between Washington's senior diplomat and two top Burmese officials in Beijing in late June, Burma's Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan said the junta is ready to cooperate with any country, including the United States, in the best interest of the two countries.
John, however, told a forum hosted by the Washington-based think-tank, The Heritage Foundation, that the US wants to see a minimum standard of basic political changes in Burma.
"We didn't meet the Burmese in Beijing just out of coincidence," he said. "That's part of the process we've been intensifying recently of engaging with China about issues in Southeast Asia, particularly Burma."
He added that despite recent cooperation, Washington and Beijing do not see eye-to-eye on Burma.
Meanwhile, John's predecessor, also a conference participant, was skeptical of Washington's Burma policy.
"We can't escape the conclusion that our policies have simply not moved Myanmar [Burma] in the right direction. Nor do they have any reasonable prospect of doing so," said Matthew Daley, the president of the US-Asean Business Council.
Daley, the former Southeast Asia head in the US State Department, said the US's Burma policy does not have much support within Asean, of which Burma is a member together with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
John, however, said the US policy calls for direct pressure on Burma for political reform through regional and international groups, including the UN, third countries and regional groupings, such as Asean.
Burma this week marks its 10th anniversary of membership in Asean.
"To have a member like Burma in the group has not been very productive for Asean's reputation and organizational status," John said, adding that the bloc's new charter, scheduled to be approved later this year, is expected to include improved standards for membership.
John, however, told a forum hosted by the Washington-based think-tank, The Heritage Foundation, that the US wants to see a minimum standard of basic political changes in Burma.
"We didn't meet the Burmese in Beijing just out of coincidence," he said. "That's part of the process we've been intensifying recently of engaging with China about issues in Southeast Asia, particularly Burma."
He added that despite recent cooperation, Washington and Beijing do not see eye-to-eye on Burma.
Meanwhile, John's predecessor, also a conference participant, was skeptical of Washington's Burma policy.
"We can't escape the conclusion that our policies have simply not moved Myanmar [Burma] in the right direction. Nor do they have any reasonable prospect of doing so," said Matthew Daley, the president of the US-Asean Business Council.
Daley, the former Southeast Asia head in the US State Department, said the US's Burma policy does not have much support within Asean, of which Burma is a member together with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
John, however, said the US policy calls for direct pressure on Burma for political reform through regional and international groups, including the UN, third countries and regional groupings, such as Asean.
Burma this week marks its 10th anniversary of membership in Asean.
"To have a member like Burma in the group has not been very productive for Asean's reputation and organizational status," John said, adding that the bloc's new charter, scheduled to be approved later this year, is expected to include improved standards for membership.
