Hillary Clinton's recent visit to Myanmar, the first by a secretary of state of the United States since 1955, has drawn worldwide attention.

The visit is believed to be a major step toward disseminating American values in the Asian country as part of the US President Barack Obama's "return-to-Asia" policy. The scheduled withdrawal of troops from Iraq and a similar move for Afghanistan signify Washington's intention of accelerating its "return-to-Asia" offensive on the military, political, economic and ideological fronts.

The US and Myanmar have been at loggerheads for decades, reflected in US sanctions against Myanmar since 1988 when the military assumed power in the Southeast Asian country. Since then, ambassadorial-level diplomatic relations between the US and Myanmar have been downgraded to the charge d'affaires level.

But despite the low-level diplomatic link, the US didn't shut out Myanmar from its strategic vision. For example, the US organized more than 20 visits by its officials to Myanmar in the past two decades, including three visits by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, to maintain continuous pressure on the Myanmar government and promote US-style "democratic reforms" in the country.

After the elections last November, Myanmar completed its transition from military to civilian rule and launched some reforms, including revision of the election law and release of some political prisoners - including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's release from years-long house arrest. Bans on some newspapers have been lifted, too. Washington sees all these as the result of its push for the US-style democracy and values.

Through Clinton's visit, the US sent a clear message to the Myanmar government that it welcomes the changes and the country's transition to a democratic society. But the US still thinks, as Clinton told the Myanmar government, that the country is far from meeting the West-advocated democratic criteria and thus should continue walking on its nascent "democratic path". Besides, she also urged Myanmar to cut ties, especially military ties, with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Some commentators now fear that Clinton's visit could affect Myanmar's ties with China. Such worries are unwarranted, for the foundation of China-Myanmar ties is not that fragile. Myanmar was one of the first countries to recognize the People's Republic of China, and the first country to embrace the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, an international relations norm agreed to by China and India in 1954.

Despite having a 2,000-kilometer-long border between them, China and Myanmar agreed to settle their border issue way back in 1960, setting a good example for border disputes among other countries. As a result, the China-Myanmar border is now one of peace, friendship and cooperation, with people on both sides co-existing peacefully.

As a sovereign nation, Myanmar has the right to establish and develop ties with any country it wants, including the US. But the decades-long sanctions imposed by the US and the United Nations have hurt Myanmar's economic development and compromised its people's livelihoods. Hence, it is normal and understandable for Myanmar to expect the sanctions to be lifted with the improvement of ties with the US.

In return for the stringent demands that Clinton, during her meeting with Myanmar President Thein Sein, said Myanmar should fulfill, she didn't offer any substantial rewards. She only said that the US would become an observer for the Lower Mekong Initiative, a US-backed group discussing Southeast Asia's major waterway, and that Washington would support the World Bank and International Monetary Fund assessment missions to help Myanmar jumpstart its economy and make the new UN counter-narcotics and health cooperation programs a success.

She also said that the dialogue with Myanmar is still in its initial phase because the US doesn't know whether the democratic process in Myanmar is irreversible and that her country would take some measures commensurate with those taken by the Myanmar government. To put them in perspective, Clinton's remarks indicate that the US will continue to wield the stick while placing a carrot in front of Myanmar.

The author is a researcher at the Institute of American Studies, affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(China Daily 12/10/2011 page5)