Obama Likely to Discuss Burma on Asia Trip

U.S. officials say human rights issues and the November 7 national elections in military-ruled Burma are likely to be discussed during President Barack Obama’s upcoming 10-day, four-country trip to Asia.

At a White House briefing Wednesday, U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns said he cannot predict exactly what Mr. Obama will discuss in India and at other stops on the trip, but he said the U.S. emphasis on human rights issues across Asia and the Pacific will continue.

National Security Council official Ben Rhodes said the U.S. will speak specifically to human rights and democracy issues in India and elsewhere during the president’s trip.

The first national elections in Burma in two decades are taking place one day after Mr. Obama arrives in India. But human rights groups and some Western countries have called the vote a sham.

During the briefing, Burns repeated Washington’s call for the immediate release of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.

Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy was disbanded in May after it failed to register for the vote, remains under house arrest, and more than 2,000 political prisoners are in jail.

The Obama administration has pursued a policy of engagement with Burma’s military, hoping it would help encourage change, achieve freedom for political prisoners, and bring about a legitimate political dialogue in the country.

Earlier this year, it acknowledged that although it expects the process to be long and difficult, it remains committed to continuing the policy beyond the November 7 elections.