Thursday, 17 May 2012 16:24 Mizzima News
(Mizzima) – During the Burmese foreign ministers meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday in Washington, current special Burma envoy Derek Mitchell is expected to be nominated as ambassador to Burma.
It is not known if the U.S. will announce the removal of sanctions during the visit of Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin.
However, Democrat Sen. Jim Webb, who is among several senators who will meet with Wunna Maung Lwin, said earlier this week the visit was an "appropriate time" to lift economic sanctions. Republican Sen. John McCain has also called for a lifting of sanctions. Both senators are recognized as influential on U.S. Burma policy.
Burma’s foreign minister came to the State Department in September, but this will be his first meeting there with Clinton, who visited Burma in December 2011.
The U.S is engaged in a “step by step” removal of sanctions against Burma and recommitment of some forms of aid to the impoverished and long-isolated country, which has decided to rejoin the community of nations under the leadership of its president, Thein Sein, a former general in the previous military junta.
There are those calling for the immediate removal of sanctions and others, including human rights groups and exiled Burmese, who are calling for caution, saying the sanctions are forcing the current government to continue on the path of democratic reforms. They still cite the plight of a large number of prisoners of conscience who are held in Burmese jails, and the on going fighting in ethnic areas of the country, while acknowledging progress that has been made in signing nearly a dozen cease-fires with ethnic armed groups.
The E.U. has already suspended its sanctions for one year, excluding the sale of weapons. Burma is seen as a source of oil and natural gas, minerals, timber and other goods, and its strategic position in the region is recognized by China, India and other countries.
Human rights groups are concerned that the Obama administration is moving too fast to reward the reforms.
Sen. McCain, who has visited the country three times during the past year, said sanctions should remain in place in cases where they targeted certain companies and people on a U.S. blacklist, so as not to reward people seen as hostile to reforms.
Human Rights Watch is demanding the imposition of binding rules on corporate responsibility for U.S. companies working in Burma and revision of the blacklist that has not been updated for at least three years.
“Tough rules are needed to ensure that new investments benefit the people of Burma and don't fuel human rights abuses and corruption, or end up strengthening the military's control over civilian authorities,” John Sifton, the group's Asia advocacy director, said in a statement.
If nominated to become the U.S. ambassador to Burma, it would likely take Mitchell, who is well known among Burmese officials, at least three months to clear the U.S. Senate, observers said in April.
Prior to his current appointment, Mitchell served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, from April 2009 until August 2011. In that capacity, he was responsible for overseeing the Defense Department’s security policy in Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central Asia.
Prior to joining the Obama Administration, he served as senior fellow and director of the Asia Division of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Mitchell was special assistant for Asian and Pacific affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1997 to 2001, when he served alternately as senior country director for China, Taiwan, Mongolia, and Hong Kong (2000–2001), director for regional security affairs (1998–2000), country director for Japan (1997–1998), and senior country director for the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore (1998–1999). Mitchell was the principal author of the Department of Defense 1998 East Asia Strategy Report.
He received a master of arts in law and diplomacy degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1991 and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in 1986. He studied Chinese language at Nanjing University in China and speaks Mandarin Chinese proficiently.
Mitchell has authored numerous books, articles, and opinion pieces on Asian security affairs, and is coauthor of China: The Balance Sheet—What the World Needs to Know Now about the Emerging Superpower (Public Affairs, 2006), and China’s Rise: Challenges and Opportunities (Peterson Institute for International Economics Press, 2008).
(Mizzima) – During the Burmese foreign ministers meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday in Washington, current special Burma envoy Derek Mitchell is expected to be nominated as ambassador to Burma.
It is not known if the U.S. will announce the removal of sanctions during the visit of Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin.
 |
| Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, wearing traditional dress, speaks at the 66th general assembly of the United Nations in New York in September 2011. Photo: AFP |
However, Democrat Sen. Jim Webb, who is among several senators who will meet with Wunna Maung Lwin, said earlier this week the visit was an "appropriate time" to lift economic sanctions. Republican Sen. John McCain has also called for a lifting of sanctions. Both senators are recognized as influential on U.S. Burma policy.
Burma’s foreign minister came to the State Department in September, but this will be his first meeting there with Clinton, who visited Burma in December 2011.
The U.S is engaged in a “step by step” removal of sanctions against Burma and recommitment of some forms of aid to the impoverished and long-isolated country, which has decided to rejoin the community of nations under the leadership of its president, Thein Sein, a former general in the previous military junta.
There are those calling for the immediate removal of sanctions and others, including human rights groups and exiled Burmese, who are calling for caution, saying the sanctions are forcing the current government to continue on the path of democratic reforms. They still cite the plight of a large number of prisoners of conscience who are held in Burmese jails, and the on going fighting in ethnic areas of the country, while acknowledging progress that has been made in signing nearly a dozen cease-fires with ethnic armed groups.
The E.U. has already suspended its sanctions for one year, excluding the sale of weapons. Burma is seen as a source of oil and natural gas, minerals, timber and other goods, and its strategic position in the region is recognized by China, India and other countries.
Human rights groups are concerned that the Obama administration is moving too fast to reward the reforms.
Sen. McCain, who has visited the country three times during the past year, said sanctions should remain in place in cases where they targeted certain companies and people on a U.S. blacklist, so as not to reward people seen as hostile to reforms.
Human Rights Watch is demanding the imposition of binding rules on corporate responsibility for U.S. companies working in Burma and revision of the blacklist that has not been updated for at least three years.
“Tough rules are needed to ensure that new investments benefit the people of Burma and don't fuel human rights abuses and corruption, or end up strengthening the military's control over civilian authorities,” John Sifton, the group's Asia advocacy director, said in a statement.
If nominated to become the U.S. ambassador to Burma, it would likely take Mitchell, who is well known among Burmese officials, at least three months to clear the U.S. Senate, observers said in April.
Prior to his current appointment, Mitchell served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, from April 2009 until August 2011. In that capacity, he was responsible for overseeing the Defense Department’s security policy in Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central Asia.
Prior to joining the Obama Administration, he served as senior fellow and director of the Asia Division of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Mitchell was special assistant for Asian and Pacific affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1997 to 2001, when he served alternately as senior country director for China, Taiwan, Mongolia, and Hong Kong (2000–2001), director for regional security affairs (1998–2000), country director for Japan (1997–1998), and senior country director for the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore (1998–1999). Mitchell was the principal author of the Department of Defense 1998 East Asia Strategy Report.
He received a master of arts in law and diplomacy degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1991 and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in 1986. He studied Chinese language at Nanjing University in China and speaks Mandarin Chinese proficiently.
Mitchell has authored numerous books, articles, and opinion pieces on Asian security affairs, and is coauthor of China: The Balance Sheet—What the World Needs to Know Now about the Emerging Superpower (Public Affairs, 2006), and China’s Rise: Challenges and Opportunities (Peterson Institute for International Economics Press, 2008).
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