YANGON, Myanmar -- President Barack Obama makes an historic visit to Myanmar Monday, becoming the first U.S. president to visit the Southeast Asia nation in the hopes his high profile presence encourages the government’s shift from military rule to fledgling democracy.
Obama landed in the country once known as Burma Monday morning local time, the start of a quick stop in which he’ll meet with President Thein Sein before visiting with famed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her home where she faced house arrest for years before being elected to Parliament.
The president also will deliver a speech at the University of Yangon, a recently reopened school that has been the center of political movements in the nation for decades, urging Mynamar to do more to give all citizens a voice.
"Instead of being repressed, the right of people to assemble together must now be fully respected," he plans to say, according to excerpts released by aides in advance. "Instead of being stifled, the veil of media censorship must continue to be lifted. As you take these steps, you can draw on your progress."
Some human rights organizations criticized the president for traveling to the nation that still is engaged in ethnic fighting. On Sunday, Obama defended his trip, saying political prisoners have been released and that opposition leader Suu Kyi, who was imprisoned for nearly 15 years until 2010, now serves in the government.
“I think it’s important to recognize this is not an endorsement of the Burmese government,” Obama said in Thailand.
“This is an acknowledgement that there is a process underway inside that country that even a year half two years ago nobody would have saw,” he added. “There is an articulated commitment to further political reform. If we waited to engage until they had achieved a perfect democracy my suspicion is we’d be waiting a long time.”
Obama said one of the goals of his trip was to highlight the progress that has been made but also to show the much greater progress thatneeds to be made. "The country has a long way to go. I’m not somebody who thinks that the United States should stand on the sidelines and not want to get its hands dirty when there’s an opportunity for us to encourage the better impulses inside a country."
A senior administration official speaking on background told reporters that the United States is pledging $170 million over two years as partof a reestablished USAID mission in Myanmar. In return, the Myanmar government has agreed to a host of changes, including ending its military relationship with North Korea. Myanmar was one of the only few remaining military partners the North Koreans could count on.
"This is the beginning of our mission within Burma,’’ the official said. "But at the same time …these are going to be partnerships. And in order to continue to implement these programs, the Burmese are going to have to continue to take steps."
The stop in Myanmar is part of a whirlwind tour of Southeast Asia, part of a second term focus on the fast-growing region that Obama said could strengthen the U.S. economy and security.
“The United States is and always will be a Pacific nation,” Obama said at a news conference with Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Sunday. “The Asian Pacific shapes so much of our security and prosperity ahead and it’s critical for creating jobs and opportunity for the American people. That’s why I’ve made restoring America’s engagement in this region a top priority as president.”
After the brief six-hour visit in Myanmar, Obama heads to Cambodia for a summit with Asian leaders. He returns to Washington early Wednesday.
Even as he looked to Asia, Obama was reminded anew that other priorities remain on the agenda with escalating violence in Gaza that has left 45 people dead. In his first comments about the situation, Obama Sunday repeatedly backed Israel’s right to defend itself. "There’s no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders," he said. "We are fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself."
He also urged a step back from the violence lest it do even more damage to long term wishes for peace.
"If we see a further escalation of the situation in Gaza, then the likelihood of us getting back on any kind of peace track that leads toa two-state solution is going to be pushed off way into the future," Obama said in his news conference with Shinawatra.
In Thailand on Sunday, Obama met with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, an iconic figure who has ruled the nation for more than half a century. The 84-year-old Massachusetts-born king, the longest-serving monarch in the world, is in poor health and has lived at a hospital for several years. He also met with the prime minister.
"We will continue to build on a strong foundation in expanding our trade and investment to promote growth and create jobs,’’ Shinawatra said at a dinner for Obama. "The world is changing fast, and only through trust, partnership can we ensure peace and prosperity for both nations."
Since World War II, the United States and Thailand have significantly expanded both diplomatic and economic relations, though recently the Thai government refused to allow NASA to use an airfield for monitoring atmospheric conditions. But Thailand did announce its intention to join a new trade agreement – the Trans Pacific Partnership – that will include environmental and labor standards.