Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Stalled reforms, South China Sea to dominate Myanmar's ASEAN party

Published 11/11/2014, 05:35 AM
Updated 11/11/2014, 05:41 AM
© Reuters Keepers ride on white elephants as they walk through dense vegetation in an enclosure near Uppatasanti Pagoda in Naypyitaw

© Reuters Keepers ride on white elephants as they walk through dense vegetation in an enclosure near Uppatasanti Pagoda in Naypyitaw

By Jared Ferrie and Simon Webb

NAYPYITAW Myanmar (Reuters) - World leaders will descend on the surreal capital of Myanmar this week, an unthinkable event when it was run by a brutal military junta for almost half a century.

Shortly after winning a one-sided election four years ago, the army veterans stunned the world, ushering in a wave of liberal change that convinced the United States and other Western powers that Myanmar was no longer the pariah it was.

But this week's coming out party for the purpose-built city of Naypyitaw, secretly raised from the rice paddies by the junta, comes amid mounting concern that the reforms that opened Myanmar to international engagement have gone into reverse.

The military still holds substantial political power, a peace process to end conflict with ethnic minorities is stalled, and the persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority faces a humanitarian crisis in western Rakhine state.

President Barack Obama is expected to tackle those issues in a meeting with Myanmar President Thein Sein during the summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Forum on Nov. 12 and 13.

"We have real concerns, and we have expressed them repeatedly about circumstances in Rakhine state, and the transition to democracy, which is a challenging one," Obama's national security adviser Susan Rice said on Friday.

"And we will raise those concerns very directly."

China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will also visit the eerily quiet city where Myanmar's leaders and powerful retired generals have isolated themselves from the largest city and former capital, Yangon.

Competing territorial claims between China and four ASEAN nations will form an undercurrent of tension at the meetings.

Maritime spats peaked this year in May, when China sent a giant oil drilling rig to waters claimed by Vietnam. The move sparked deadly anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam, which along with the Philippines has sought closer U.S. ties to counter what they see as China's aggression.

Philippines President Benigno Aquino will address that this week, a member of his delegation told Reuters, describing it as the "most pressing security issue facing our region today".

For all the blunt backroom talk, the ASEAN group is reluctant to antagonize China and a draft of the chairman's concluding statement, obtained by Reuters, shows little change since foreign ministers met in August.

"We expressed our concerns over recent developments in the South China Sea which have increased tensions," the draft said, urging all parties to "exercise self-restraint, refrain from the use or threat of force, and avoid actions which could undermine peace and stability."

© Reuters. Keepers ride on white elephants as they walk through dense vegetation in an enclosure near Uppatasanti Pagoda in Naypyitaw

The South China Sea row is so divisive that a summit in Cambodia in 2012 failed to issue a final communique. Despite being a relative novice to the international stage, Myanmar has so far managed to avoid such an embarrassing breakdown.

(Additional reporting by Paul Mooney in Yangon and Manuel Mogato in MANILA; Editing by Martin Petty and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.