USA-Asia relations
Individual Documents
Description:
"I am grateful that law enforcement moved swiftly to respond to the horrific alleged plot to seriously injure or kill my colleague and UN counterpart, Kyaw Moe Tun, Burma’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The United States stands in solidarity with Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, who continues to demonstrate remarkable courage and bravery in speaking on behalf of the people of Burma who demand a return to democracy.
We are all fortunate this alleged plot, that was to take place on U.S. soil, was thwarted and that the suspected perpetrators were arrested and are now facing justice. We unequivocally condemn this threat to Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, which fits a disturbing pattern of authoritarian leaders and their supporters reaching across the globe – including into the United States – to persecute and repress journalists, activists, and others who dare speak or stand against them.
As I arrive at the Olympics to represent the United States, I am thinking of Belarusian Olympian Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who has just landed in Poland as an asylum-seeker. She narrowly escaped the grip of the Lukashenka regime thanks to the quick intervention of Japanese law enforcement, and Poland’s offer of refuge.
Just last month, the U.S. thwarted an alleged Iranian plot to kidnap and imprison Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and U.S. citizen. Iran’s alleged effort to silence a journalist in our country for reporting on the regime’s behavior is intolerable and appalling.
These are only the most recent acts of transnational repression, and they must be met with the condemnation of the world and with full and certain accountability. We will not stand for efforts by authoritarian regimes and their supporters and enablers to repress people on our soil or across borders, and we will continue to coordinate with allies and partners, including at the United Nations, to stand against transnational repression anywhere..."
Source/publisher:
United States Mission to the United Nations
Date of publication:
2021-08-07
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
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"WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden called Monday (Feb 1) on Myanmar's military to relinquish power immediately and ordered a review to consider reimposing sanctions lifted due to the nation's transition to democracy.
"The international community should come together in one voice to press the Burmese military to immediately relinquish the power they have seized," Biden said.
"The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy," he said in a statement, using Myanmar's former name.
"The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action."
"The United States will stand up for democracy wherever it is under attack."..."
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of publication:
2021-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's political parties, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, USA-Asia relations
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"Tensions between the United States and China entered a dangerous new phase this week. For the first time in 25 years, US authorities labelled China a currency manipulator after the RMB fell below the 7 yuan-per-dollar level. This opens the door to the United States’ levelling sanctions against China as well even more extreme trade restrictions, as the global trade and technology war morphs into a currency war. The actions of the United States were arbitrary, to say the least, and have rocked global financial markets. The recent ‘ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific’ shows that ASEAN countries are more and more wary of the approach being taken by the United States in the region. They are right to be worried.
Labelling China a currency manipulator made little sense, both economically and institutionally.
Economically, a weakening RMB is to be expected in the current economic circumstances. The Chinese economy has been slowing while the United States continues its longest economic boom in history. Chinese exports to the United States have been under increasing strain while escalating global risks have seen increased demand for safe haven US financial assets. All of these variables point to a weakening RMB against the US dollar. ‘They are not driving the currency down’ notes Marc Chandler, Chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex, ‘but just accepting market forces’. Within a narrow band the Chinese monetary authorities let the currency settle where the market took it..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of publication:
2019-08-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Asia relations, USA-Burma relations, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy
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pdf
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39.4 KB (3 pages)
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"The U.S. must not shrink from its leadership role in the international order, according to a new Asia Foundation report released today. Asian Views on America?s Role in Asia: The Future of the Rebalance is the Foundation?s signature foreign policy initiative bringing together diverse, distinct perspectives from influential Asian foreign policy specialists and thought leaders. The report arrives on the eve of possibly the greatest change in American foreign policy in Asia since the end of World War II. One of the principal conclusions of the report is that most Asians believe that a robust, sustained, and consistent U.S. diplomatic, economic, and security presence in the region is essential.
President-elect Donald Trump will find a complex set of issues to address in the dynamic and divergent region, including pressing inter-Asian tensions, expectations of Asian leaders and the broader public about America?s role, as well as rising powers eager to set their own agendas.
In contrast to the majority of Asia policy projects in the U.S. which limit the inquiry to American views, the report emphasizes the views of Asians, not only foreign policy luminaries, but also an emerging younger generation of leaders, including from civil society and policy institutes. The Asia Foundation report is formulated as a set of strategic recommendations—including a concise top 10—for the new administration on U.S. foreign policy priorities in Asia. These are:
Maintain a strong American presence in the Asia Pacific;
Support Asian regional architecture;
Ratify TPP;
Rethink U.S. strategy on the Korean peninsula;
Pursue a balanced approach towards China;
Ratify UN Convention on the Law of the Sea;
Work with India to address South Asian security;
Do not abandon Afghanistan;
Play a leading role in nontraditional security; and
Continue to project American ?soft power.”
Source/publisher:
Asia Foundation
Date of publication:
2016-11-14
Date of entry/update:
2016-11-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Asia relations
Language:
English
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Description:
The Future of the Rebalance...
STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE INCOMING
U.S. PRESIDENT ON FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS ASIA.....EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
As in much of the world, policymakers in Asia have been transfixed by the twists and
turns of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.The contest between Donald Trump
and Hillary Clinton has unexpectedly set the stage for a comprehensive discussion
of America?s post-war foreign policy—including its commitment to the global
security system and a liberal trading regime. As the United States reexamines many
of the traditional assumptions about its role in the world, Asian leaders are deeply
concerned about America?s long-term support for the liberal, global economic order
and Washington?s political will to sustain its longstanding international security
commitments.
Faced with the forces of isolationism and economic nationalism, the United States
must not shrink from its leadership role in the international order. The U.S. has been
a major power in Asia for the past 70 years, a time of unprecedented and dramatic
economic expansion and societal change that has transformed virtually every Asian
nation and thrust the region as a whole into a position of global preeminence. Yet
despite these advances, the countries of Asia are contending with a number of
complex and potentially destabilizing international and internal challenges—from
territorial disputes and nuclear proliferation, maritime piracy and human and drug
trafficking, to corruption, rapid urbanization, environmental pollution, income
inequality and poverty, aging populations, and natural disasters..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Foundation
Date of publication:
2016-11-14
Date of entry/update:
2016-11-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
USA-Asia relations
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
7.41 MB
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SUMMARY: "When US President Barack Obama first articulated his administration?s goal of a diplomatic rebalance to Asia, he outlined three areas in which the US government would focus its attentions: increased strategic and military ties, better economic integration, and greater attention to promoting democracy and human rights.
Obama outlined the last prong of the rebalance in a speech in Australia on November 17, 2011:
-Every nation will chart its own course. Yet it is also true that certain rights are universal; amongthem, freedom of speech, freedom ofthe press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and the freedom of citizens to choose their own leaders.
-These are not American rights ... or Western rights. These are human rights. They stir in every soul, as we?ve seen in the democracies that have succeeded here in Asia. Other models have been tried and they have failed - fascism and communism, rule by one man or rule by committee. And they failed for the same simple reason: they ignore the ultimate source of power and legitimacy - the will ofthe people.
On February 15-16, 2016, President Obama will host 10 government leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) fora summit at the Sunnylands estate in California.
For decades, the United States government has viewed ASEAN as an important economic, security, and political partner, and has forged closer ties with ASEAN countries as they have undergone major economic and political changes. In recent years, some countries, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, have made steady though uneven progress toward becoming democratic states with increasing respect for basic human rights. Most recently, in November 2015 the military junta in Burma allowed the opposition to contest elections and accepted the landslide victory of Aung San Suu Kyi?s National League for Democracy— though it still maintains broad constitutional powers and de facto control over security forces and large parts ofthe economy.
Many ASEAN countries, however, continue to be plagued by deep-seated political and economic problems. As the chapters below outline, most of ASEAN?s 10 members have extraordinarily poor human rights records. Beyond the lack of basic freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in many countries, problems across ASEAN include restrictions on civil society, failures on women?s rights, the political use of courts, high-level corruption, lack of protection of refugees and asylum seekers, human trafficking, and abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
For President Obama, the February 2016 US-ASEAN summit represents another chapter in the continuing efforts to rebalance attention to the Asia region. For many of ASEAN?s leaders—in particular those who have not come to power through free and fair elections— the summit represents an unearned diplomatic reward: a robust US reaffirmation of their sought-for legitimacy as leaders ofthe 615 million people who live in ASEAN.
One particularly egregious example is the invitation to the summit for Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha, who took power in a 2014 military coup, dismantled democratic institutions, and has led a relentless crackdown on critics and dissidents. Prayut has consistently delayed the date for a return to democratic rule, making it clear that he expects the army to manage the country?s affairs even after a vote for a new parliament is held.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam and President Choummaly Sayasone of Laos preside over one-party authoritarian states that deny basic freedoms and use censorship, detention, and torture to maintain their party?s hold on power. The communist party of each country has been in power since 1975 and have shown no interest in moving towards pluralism or genuine elections.
The sultan of Brunei, Hassal Bolkiah, is one ofthe world?s few remaining hereditary government leaders and has imposed a near complete ban on freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. He plans to increase the imposition of Islamic law punishments, including whipping and stoning, foradultery, sex between unmarried persons, and homosexual activity.
The prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, retained power in 2014 after a deeply flawed electoral process in which his party, which has been in power since 1967, lost the popular vote. Implicated in a major corruption scandal, he has engaged in a broad crackdown on Malaysia?s political opposition, civil society organizations, and media..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2016-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, ASEAN-Burma relations, USA-Burma relations, USA-Asia relations
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
5.6 MB 14.8 MB
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