Hillary
Clinton Visits Burma, Seeks US entry to Curb Yunnan
Myanmar
aims to leverage friendly relations with both the U.S. and China to grow one of
Asia’s smallest economies and boost incomes in the region, according to an
adviser to President Thein Sein.
China welcomes greater U.S. engagement with Myanmar because a
wealthier neighbor would lift the economic growth of
Yunnan province and other inland areas, Nay Zin Latt, one of nine advisers who meet Thein
Sein “frequently,” said in a Dec. 3 interview a day
after Secretary of State Hillary Clintoncompleted the
highest-level U.S. visit to Myanmar in 56 years.
“I’m going for a win-win-win situation,” Nay Zinn Latt said in his Yangon
office. “China wants us to be more developed. Our country is the gateway to the
sea from Yunnan. If we are rich, Yunnan will be rich too. If we are poor, China
can only get raw materials.” China’s landlocked southwest province of Yunnan
adjoins Myanmar.
During her visit, Clinton offered a path to ease sanctions
that have been in place for more than 20 years and have left Myanmar dependent
on neighbors China, India and Thailand, which have
poured more than $25 billion into ports, power plants, and oil and gas
pipelines. Myanmar’s moves to roll back more than five decades of military rule
have provided the U.S. an opening to rebuild political and economic ties as
President Barack Obamashifts his foreign policy focus
to Asia.
China National Petroleum Corp. is building oil and gas
pipelines across Myanmar, a move that would allow it to access Middle Eastern
crude without having to go through the Malacca Straits. China, Hong Kong and
Thailand account for more than 70 percent of total
investment into Myanmar, compared with less than one percent
for the U.S., according to government statistics.
U.S.
sanctions ban imports, restrict money transfers, curb aid funding and target jewelry with gemstones originating in Myanmar. Chevron
Corp. (CVX), based in San Ramon, California, is one of the few U.S. companies
operating in Myanmar through its 2005 purchase of Unocal Corp., which invested
in a gas field and pipeline prior to a 1997 ban on new investment.