Hague welcomes Myanmar’s reform pledge

Britain has sent its strongest message yet of its willingness to improve relations with Myanmar if the country continues its recent course of political reform.

On the first visit to Myanmar by a British foreign minister since 1955, William Hague commended “encouraging steps” towards reform by the government of Thein Sein, the president.

But he set out conditions for lifting sanctions and urged Myanmar to undertake further reform.

Mr Hague began a two-day visit to Myanmar on Thursday by holding talks with Wunna Maung Lwin, the foreign minister, in Naypyidaw, the capital city built only six years ago.

After the meeting, he said he had told the minister the UK wished to see concrete progress on the release of more political prisoners, and free and fair by-elections to the country’s parliament, as well as the resolution of conflict with armed ethnic groups and the granting of humanitarian access to conflict areas.

“I have assured him that if they do, there will be a strongly positive response from the UK and, I believe, the rest of the European Union,” he said.

Mr Hague’s visit follows the trip by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, to Myanmar early last month, and a more recent visit by Koichiro Gemba, Japan’s foreign minister.

The visit precedes the EU’s annual review of Myan­mar policy in early April. European diplomats suggest that if reform continues apace and the elections are deemed fair, the EU could lift sanctions by the middle of the year. EU sanctions are not as draconian as US sanctions but still deter European companies from investing in the country.

“Of course we are talking about it – we’re in the process of reviewing our policy at the moment,” said Dav­id Lipman, the EU’s Bangkok-based ambassador to Myanmar. “The situation in Myan­mar has changed dramatically in the last 12 months.”

Mr Hague met Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader, in Yangon on Thursday and was set to meet government figures and other political activists on Thursday night and Friday.

In a growing push to end decades of international isolation, the government has released several hundred political prisoners in recent months as part of a general amnesty, undertaken lab­our reforms and announced by-elections for 48 seats in the 664-member parliament on April 1.

Ms Suu Kyi is expected to stand in the election and her National League for Democracy has been approved to run. That constitutes a swift U-turn from the party’s boycott of Myanmar’s general election in November 2010.

But Thant Myint-U, a Myanmar author and commentator who will meet Mr Hague on Friday, said lifting sanctions was “the only way to go”.

“Sanctions have never been effective at pressuring the government and at this point may even hinder the kind of reforms we all want to see in Myanmar.”