Tripartite scheme involving US will be set up to help Myanmar

Thailand, the United States and Myanmar will set up a tripartite cooperation scheme to provide assistance to Myanmar in various fields, notably in relation to people living along the border, Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said.

This idea was discussed with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a panel session in Washington DC and details were to be discussed at the 4th Thai-US Strategic Dialogue on Thursday (Bangkok time today), he said.

USAID and the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency would be the main agencies running the scheme with Myanmar, he said, adding that Thailand had already provided assistance to Myanmar in several fields including education and health. He also noted that the US could make more contributions through existing channels. 

At the meeting with Clinton, Surapong said he had asked Washington to lift all the sanctions against Myanmar and provide more assistance to refugees sheltered along the Thai borders.

He said that Clinton responded by saying that the US could not lift all sanctions in one go due to the complexity of legal procedures, to which Surapong suggested that Washington consider issuing an executive order to at least relax the sanctions. The foreign minister also asked the US to provide full backing to Myanmar’s reforms and help move the country toward democracy and reconciliation.

“The US should emphasis the importance of both President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi equally as they are both key to reforms in the country,” Surapong told reporters after his meeting with Clinton. 

Cooperation between Thailand and the US on Myanmar would be a part of the strategic cooperation and would be included in the memorandum of understanding to be issued in the near future. 

On bilateral matters, Clinton asked Thailand to speed up its decision to join the US-sponsored Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) in order to stop the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told President Barack Obama when they met in Bali on the sidelines of the Asean summit last year that her Cabinet would consider joining the PSI. The government has not considered the scheme yet, though Surapong told Clinton that the Cabinet was still studying it. 

Surapong said he was also looking into the possibility of organising a bilateral visit between Yingluck and Obama in the second half of this year. 

Meanwhile, after the meeting with Surapong, Clinton briefly told reporters that the US wanted to see Thailand play a leading role in the region to enhance peace, security and prosperity. 

In the meeting, she voiced concern about the issue of the South China Sea, where China has been having territorial disputes with other Southeast Asian nations. The US wants to ensure that freedom of navigation and right of free passage in the area are guaranteed.

As Asean’s coordinator with China, Thailand would work with Beijing to create a new code of conduct for the South China Sea to replace the Declaration of Conduct, which was created some 10 years ago, Surapong said. He added that he had not raised the issue of U-Tapao airbase with Clinton yet because the subject was still politically sensitive. 

During the previous administration, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) requested that it be allowed to use U-Tapao for its weather research aircraft. This request was later linked to an idea from the US Navy that it be allowed to use the airbase for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. 

It has been alleged that the Yingluck government might use the U-Tapao airbase to do a deal with the US over a visa being granted to former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. 

However, Surapong said Thaksin had nothing to do with this matter, and that the Foreign Ministry might withdraw the US proposal from the Cabinet agenda to end all the political difficulties. 

“We might lose interest in the project, but since it is far too politicised, I don’t want to carry on,” he said.