Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://politiktoons.blogspot.comand also at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)
Showing posts with label George W. Bush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George W. Bush. Show all posts
Monday, September 29, 2008
Politiktoons No. 51: The 3 Cowboys
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://politiktoons.blogspot.comand also at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The unexpected friendship of US President George Bush
Translated from French by Luc SârThe unexpected friendship of US President George Bush
By N. Sihanouk
08 August 2008
By N. Sihanouk
08 August 2008
Grandiose and very beautiful, very successful opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics Games.
In a portion of the podium reserved for Chinese and foreign VIPs (heads of state, national leaders, retired Prime Ministers), the PRC protocol placed not far from one another the illustrious President George Bush, the father of the current US President, the illustrious Lee Kuan Yew of the Republic of Singapore, N. Sihanouk of Cambodia.
Unforgettable event: President George Bush stood up, smiling and affable, to come and warmly shake my hand. I stood up to greet him and tell him: “Sir, I admire you so much!”. The US President was visibly touched. He thanked me by shaking my hand warmly a second time.
H.E. Lee Kuan Yew and I are old friends. We had a lot of pleasure and we were very moved to see each other again.
In the podium reserved for heads of state and current heads of government, my son Preah Sihamoni, King of Cambodia, was placed not far from the illustrious President Hu Jin Tao of the glorious PRC, next to the illustrious US President Bush (son).
US President Bush was very amicable with Preah Sihamoni.
(Signed) N. Sihanouk
In a portion of the podium reserved for Chinese and foreign VIPs (heads of state, national leaders, retired Prime Ministers), the PRC protocol placed not far from one another the illustrious President George Bush, the father of the current US President, the illustrious Lee Kuan Yew of the Republic of Singapore, N. Sihanouk of Cambodia.
Unforgettable event: President George Bush stood up, smiling and affable, to come and warmly shake my hand. I stood up to greet him and tell him: “Sir, I admire you so much!”. The US President was visibly touched. He thanked me by shaking my hand warmly a second time.
H.E. Lee Kuan Yew and I are old friends. We had a lot of pleasure and we were very moved to see each other again.
In the podium reserved for heads of state and current heads of government, my son Preah Sihamoni, King of Cambodia, was placed not far from the illustrious President Hu Jin Tao of the glorious PRC, next to the illustrious US President Bush (son).
US President Bush was very amicable with Preah Sihamoni.
(Signed) N. Sihanouk
Friday, August 08, 2008
US, Thailand: A conflicted alliance
Aug 8, 2008
By Shawn W Crispin
Asia Times (Hong Kong)
By Shawn W Crispin
Asia Times (Hong Kong)
BANGKOK - While President George W Bush heaped praise on Thailand, which he recognized as the United States' oldest ally in Asia, a diplomatic debacle played out behind the scenes.
Bush's farewell address to Asia was made symbolically in Thailand to highlight the 175-year anniversary of US-Thai diplomatic ties while also touting his administration's many self-professed diplomatic successes in the region, including the widespread promotion of liberty, law and democracy.
Left unaddressed were tensions in US-Thai bilateral ties, which have risen sharply in the wake of the September 2006 military coup that ousted democratically elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and sparked accusations among the fallen premier's supporters that Washington has taken sides with the military and its political allies in the country's ongoing political conflict.
On the podium, Bush congratulated Thailand on restoring democracy, but conspicuously refrained from commenting on the country's 16-month period of military rule and the shadow the Thai military still casts over the political scene. Behind the scenes, several key Thaksin allies were not invited to the high-profile event and Thaksin himself was conspicuously absent, traveling outside of the country.
Bush's handlers declined, even after heavy Thai government lobbying, to allow for a question-and-answer session after his address, which inevitably would have led to queries about the US's view of the coup, the military-drafted constitution and the likely US reaction to any future military interventions, which some fear may be in the offing should Thai politics deteriorate into street violence.
Thai government insiders also contended that Bush failed after heavy foreign ministry lobbying to arrange a meeting with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was in residence at his seaside palace in Hua Hin, about 200 kilometers south of Bangkok. Government sources say that's because Hua Hin's airport lacks the runway facilities to accommodate Bush's jet. The 80-year-old and highly respected monarch notably did not opt to travel to Bangkok to greet Bush.
The diplomatic snafus come against perceptions among certain Thaksin supporters that Bush's emissaries in Thailand, despite pro forma US public statements condemning the temporary suspension of democracy, too swiftly and too warmly embraced the military coup-makers, many of whom are known to have close ties to top US officials.
While the US suspended a small amount of military aid to Thailand, it followed through on its annual Cobra Gold joint military exercises, the region's largest, while the Thai military was in power. Peeved Thaksin supporters recall comments Bush made at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Hanoi soon after the 2006 coup, where in comparison he noted that Singapore wasn't exactly democratic but was nonetheless still a good US friend.
Two-track diplomacy
US diplomacy with Thailand has long run on separate civilian and military tracks and has often prioritized strategic interest over other policy goals. From 1947 to 1958, for instance, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was intimately involved in Thai political outcomes and America frequently supported suppression of Thai government opponents when it served Washington's interests. [1]
In the 1960s and 1970s, the US provided assistance to repressive military governments and built the road infrastructure that helped Thai troops battle communist insurgents. Now, nowhere are the conflicted US policies of democracy promotion and strategic positioning more glaringly apparent than in Thailand. The Bush administration's global counter-terrorism campaign, which he highlighted heavily in his farewell speech, recast the cause for US military involvement in Southeast Asia, including in Thailand.
Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and into the 1990s, Washington justified, and several regional countries welcomed, the US military role in counterbalancing China's communist and perceived expansionist threat. When China later effectively ditched communism for capitalism and diplomatically and economically engaged the region, the US's past raison d'etre for a strong strategic presence diminished.
Keen to counterbalance China's rising regional influence, which many analysts view as coming at the expense of the US, the Bush administration highlighted the risk of global terrorism to Southeast Asia - even in backwater countries like Cambodia, where security analysts say the terror threat is virtually nonexistent - as new justification for building strategic ties.
Thailand has been crucial in that campaign and the US in 2003 upgraded Bangkok to a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally, a status that confers special military and financial advantages upon the country. US intelligence agents already positioned in the Thai Supreme Command's so-called JSEC units, according to one government source, were able to refocus their clandestine collaborations.
Thailand also agreed in 2001 to establish a more specific joint Counter-terrorism Intelligence Center (CTIC) in Bangkok, where CIA agents and their Thai spy counterparts continue to gather and share information about regional terror groups. That unit was reportedly responsible for the 2003 sting operation that netted terror suspect Riduan Isamuddin, or Hambali, an alleged high-level al-Qaeda operative who was on the run in central Thailand.
Security over liberty
That arrest, which Bush praised in a 2003 visit to Thailand, was also highly controversial and critics contend represented a violation of Thai sovereignty because the suspect was whisked by the Americans to an undisclosed third country before standing trial in Thailand. The CIA also controversially tapped Thailand to host one of its notorious secret prison sites, to where at least two Pakistani terror suspects were transported and apparently tortured as part of Bush's controversial rendition program.
Thailand has never publicly acknowledged the existence of the secret prison, but US officials did after the Washington Post broke the story. Rights groups have maintained that the US tapped Thailand for the site exactly because Bangkok has not ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Thailand has also passed US-influenced anti-terrorism legislation in 2003, which allows for detention without trial of terror suspects.
These strategic assets have arguably compromised the US's ability and willingness to speak out against the 2006 coup and the military's continued influence over Thai politics. The US's heavy in-country intelligence presence has also bred still-unfounded suspicions among Thaksin supporters that Washington had foreknowledge of the coup, which was orchestrated by several Thai security and military officials with close and long-time ties to Washington.
They include CIA-trained Squadron Leader Prasong Soonsiri and the US-trained General Winai Phattiyakul, former director of the Directorate of Joint Intelligence at the Supreme Command's headquarters where US intelligence officials are allegedly in residence. US security officials and former US ambassador to Thailand Ralph "Skip" Boyce are also known to have generational ties to Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda, who Thaksin's supporters have accused of masterminding the 2006 putsch - charges the elder statesman has consistently denied.
Thaksin has never spoken publicly about the role of the US, but his close associates say he was miffed by Washington's response to the coup. It was no coincidence, they note, that he chose to air from China his critical messages about the military government, while his high-priced lobbying efforts in Washington failed to generate much official sympathy as a deposed democratic leader at the White House or Capitol Hill.
While Thaksin fully cooperated with Bush's terror fight, he simultaneously moved to put Thailand's relations with the US and China on a more equal footing. That included new strategic overtures towards Beijing that allowed each side to observe the other's military exercises and the staging of their first joint naval exercises in 2005, which produced an opening to undermine the US's near monopoly on military-to-military training in Thailand. Thaksin also increased Thailand's arms purchases from China during his tenure.
Bush said in his speech that US diplomacy in Asia had transcended its previous "zero sum" calculations and that a prosperous and secure region required both countries' participation. Whether Thaksin's moves to embrace China influenced the tepid response of the US to the 2006 coup is still a matter of conjecture. But the fact that many in Thaksin's camp believe Bush's government put strategic interests before its commitment to uphold democracy means the US could lose out should Thaksin ever return to power.
Note
1. See Daniel Fineman's A Special Relationship: The United States and Military Government in Thailand, 1947-58, University of Hawaii Press, 1997.
Shawn W Crispin is Asia Times Online's Southeast Asia Editor. He may be reached at swcrispin@atimes.com
Bush's farewell address to Asia was made symbolically in Thailand to highlight the 175-year anniversary of US-Thai diplomatic ties while also touting his administration's many self-professed diplomatic successes in the region, including the widespread promotion of liberty, law and democracy.
Left unaddressed were tensions in US-Thai bilateral ties, which have risen sharply in the wake of the September 2006 military coup that ousted democratically elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and sparked accusations among the fallen premier's supporters that Washington has taken sides with the military and its political allies in the country's ongoing political conflict.
On the podium, Bush congratulated Thailand on restoring democracy, but conspicuously refrained from commenting on the country's 16-month period of military rule and the shadow the Thai military still casts over the political scene. Behind the scenes, several key Thaksin allies were not invited to the high-profile event and Thaksin himself was conspicuously absent, traveling outside of the country.
Bush's handlers declined, even after heavy Thai government lobbying, to allow for a question-and-answer session after his address, which inevitably would have led to queries about the US's view of the coup, the military-drafted constitution and the likely US reaction to any future military interventions, which some fear may be in the offing should Thai politics deteriorate into street violence.
Thai government insiders also contended that Bush failed after heavy foreign ministry lobbying to arrange a meeting with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was in residence at his seaside palace in Hua Hin, about 200 kilometers south of Bangkok. Government sources say that's because Hua Hin's airport lacks the runway facilities to accommodate Bush's jet. The 80-year-old and highly respected monarch notably did not opt to travel to Bangkok to greet Bush.
The diplomatic snafus come against perceptions among certain Thaksin supporters that Bush's emissaries in Thailand, despite pro forma US public statements condemning the temporary suspension of democracy, too swiftly and too warmly embraced the military coup-makers, many of whom are known to have close ties to top US officials.
While the US suspended a small amount of military aid to Thailand, it followed through on its annual Cobra Gold joint military exercises, the region's largest, while the Thai military was in power. Peeved Thaksin supporters recall comments Bush made at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Hanoi soon after the 2006 coup, where in comparison he noted that Singapore wasn't exactly democratic but was nonetheless still a good US friend.
Two-track diplomacy
US diplomacy with Thailand has long run on separate civilian and military tracks and has often prioritized strategic interest over other policy goals. From 1947 to 1958, for instance, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was intimately involved in Thai political outcomes and America frequently supported suppression of Thai government opponents when it served Washington's interests. [1]
In the 1960s and 1970s, the US provided assistance to repressive military governments and built the road infrastructure that helped Thai troops battle communist insurgents. Now, nowhere are the conflicted US policies of democracy promotion and strategic positioning more glaringly apparent than in Thailand. The Bush administration's global counter-terrorism campaign, which he highlighted heavily in his farewell speech, recast the cause for US military involvement in Southeast Asia, including in Thailand.
Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and into the 1990s, Washington justified, and several regional countries welcomed, the US military role in counterbalancing China's communist and perceived expansionist threat. When China later effectively ditched communism for capitalism and diplomatically and economically engaged the region, the US's past raison d'etre for a strong strategic presence diminished.
Keen to counterbalance China's rising regional influence, which many analysts view as coming at the expense of the US, the Bush administration highlighted the risk of global terrorism to Southeast Asia - even in backwater countries like Cambodia, where security analysts say the terror threat is virtually nonexistent - as new justification for building strategic ties.
Thailand has been crucial in that campaign and the US in 2003 upgraded Bangkok to a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally, a status that confers special military and financial advantages upon the country. US intelligence agents already positioned in the Thai Supreme Command's so-called JSEC units, according to one government source, were able to refocus their clandestine collaborations.
Thailand also agreed in 2001 to establish a more specific joint Counter-terrorism Intelligence Center (CTIC) in Bangkok, where CIA agents and their Thai spy counterparts continue to gather and share information about regional terror groups. That unit was reportedly responsible for the 2003 sting operation that netted terror suspect Riduan Isamuddin, or Hambali, an alleged high-level al-Qaeda operative who was on the run in central Thailand.
Security over liberty
That arrest, which Bush praised in a 2003 visit to Thailand, was also highly controversial and critics contend represented a violation of Thai sovereignty because the suspect was whisked by the Americans to an undisclosed third country before standing trial in Thailand. The CIA also controversially tapped Thailand to host one of its notorious secret prison sites, to where at least two Pakistani terror suspects were transported and apparently tortured as part of Bush's controversial rendition program.
Thailand has never publicly acknowledged the existence of the secret prison, but US officials did after the Washington Post broke the story. Rights groups have maintained that the US tapped Thailand for the site exactly because Bangkok has not ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Thailand has also passed US-influenced anti-terrorism legislation in 2003, which allows for detention without trial of terror suspects.
These strategic assets have arguably compromised the US's ability and willingness to speak out against the 2006 coup and the military's continued influence over Thai politics. The US's heavy in-country intelligence presence has also bred still-unfounded suspicions among Thaksin supporters that Washington had foreknowledge of the coup, which was orchestrated by several Thai security and military officials with close and long-time ties to Washington.
They include CIA-trained Squadron Leader Prasong Soonsiri and the US-trained General Winai Phattiyakul, former director of the Directorate of Joint Intelligence at the Supreme Command's headquarters where US intelligence officials are allegedly in residence. US security officials and former US ambassador to Thailand Ralph "Skip" Boyce are also known to have generational ties to Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda, who Thaksin's supporters have accused of masterminding the 2006 putsch - charges the elder statesman has consistently denied.
Thaksin has never spoken publicly about the role of the US, but his close associates say he was miffed by Washington's response to the coup. It was no coincidence, they note, that he chose to air from China his critical messages about the military government, while his high-priced lobbying efforts in Washington failed to generate much official sympathy as a deposed democratic leader at the White House or Capitol Hill.
While Thaksin fully cooperated with Bush's terror fight, he simultaneously moved to put Thailand's relations with the US and China on a more equal footing. That included new strategic overtures towards Beijing that allowed each side to observe the other's military exercises and the staging of their first joint naval exercises in 2005, which produced an opening to undermine the US's near monopoly on military-to-military training in Thailand. Thaksin also increased Thailand's arms purchases from China during his tenure.
Bush said in his speech that US diplomacy in Asia had transcended its previous "zero sum" calculations and that a prosperous and secure region required both countries' participation. Whether Thaksin's moves to embrace China influenced the tepid response of the US to the 2006 coup is still a matter of conjecture. But the fact that many in Thaksin's camp believe Bush's government put strategic interests before its commitment to uphold democracy means the US could lose out should Thaksin ever return to power.
Note
1. See Daniel Fineman's A Special Relationship: The United States and Military Government in Thailand, 1947-58, University of Hawaii Press, 1997.
Shawn W Crispin is Asia Times Online's Southeast Asia Editor. He may be reached at swcrispin@atimes.com
Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Bangkok Political Dharma
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)Friday, April 11, 2008
Pressure builds for Bush to skip Olympics' opening [... King Sihamoni will attend the Beijing Olympics]
A supporter of Tibet holds up a sign during Olympic torch ceremonies in San Francisco on Wednesday. Pressure is mounting for President Bush to skip the ceremonies as a growing list of world leaders announce they will not attend. By Alison Wright, Special to USA Today By David Jackson
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — If President Bush attends the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing, he could be a lonely leader.
The king of Cambodia, the president of Latvia and the mayor of Athens — host of the 2004 Summer Olympics — say they'll be there for the festivities, according to the Beijing Games' website.
But Bush's counterparts in Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Poland, Estonia and the Czech Republic are planning to skip the ceremonies amid protests against China's human rights policies, particularly regarding Tibet and Darfur.
"This is becoming a big problem for the Chinese government," said Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition, which advocates a boycott of the opening ceremony.
Many world leaders have yet to say whether they'll attend. Human rights groups say they will continue to press Bush and others to stay away, and were buoyed by this week's protests in Paris and San Francisco of the Olympic torch run.
Bush has said he plans to go to the Olympics, but spokeswoman Dana Perino said it's too early to schedule the specific events that the president will attend, including the Aug. 8 opening festivities.
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama support the boycott. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, said Thursday he would not attend if he were president but stopped short of saying that is what Bush should do.
Bush told reporters on Feb. 28 he would attend the Olympics "because it's a sporting event." Perino said Thursday that Bush has often discussed his concerns about China's human rights record "and he's going to continue to do that before, during and after the Olympics."
Four years ago in Athens, former president George H.W. Bush led the U.S. delegation at the opening ceremony. Among others who attended then: British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, and the leaders of Turkey, Bosnia and the Ukraine.
This year, China has put a special emphasis on attracting world leaders for what amounts to "a coming-out party," said Derek Mitchell, the Pentagon's senior director for China during the Clinton administration.
"The opening ceremony is much more about the host country and celebrating them," he said.
The Save Darfur Coalition and other groups issued an open letter last week urging world leaders to pressure China over what they called Sudan's genocide in that nation's Darfur region. The letter said China has major influence because it is Sudan's "largest economic partner, major military supplier and chief diplomatic supporter."
Human Rights Watch issued a similar letter this week, citing Darfur and the recent Chinese crackdown on Tibet, the jailing of dissidents and media restrictions.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he is weighing his options. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, meanwhile, said he would not participate in any boycott and "nobody hopes for this." The Chinese have not said whether he'll attend.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this week he would not attend the opening, but would go to the closing ceremony. London hosts the 2012 Summer Games. "Politicians have to make decisions themselves," said Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee.
Contributing: Janice Lloyd in Beijing
The king of Cambodia, the president of Latvia and the mayor of Athens — host of the 2004 Summer Olympics — say they'll be there for the festivities, according to the Beijing Games' website.
But Bush's counterparts in Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Poland, Estonia and the Czech Republic are planning to skip the ceremonies amid protests against China's human rights policies, particularly regarding Tibet and Darfur.
"This is becoming a big problem for the Chinese government," said Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition, which advocates a boycott of the opening ceremony.
Many world leaders have yet to say whether they'll attend. Human rights groups say they will continue to press Bush and others to stay away, and were buoyed by this week's protests in Paris and San Francisco of the Olympic torch run.
Bush has said he plans to go to the Olympics, but spokeswoman Dana Perino said it's too early to schedule the specific events that the president will attend, including the Aug. 8 opening festivities.
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama support the boycott. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, said Thursday he would not attend if he were president but stopped short of saying that is what Bush should do.
Bush told reporters on Feb. 28 he would attend the Olympics "because it's a sporting event." Perino said Thursday that Bush has often discussed his concerns about China's human rights record "and he's going to continue to do that before, during and after the Olympics."
Four years ago in Athens, former president George H.W. Bush led the U.S. delegation at the opening ceremony. Among others who attended then: British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, and the leaders of Turkey, Bosnia and the Ukraine.
This year, China has put a special emphasis on attracting world leaders for what amounts to "a coming-out party," said Derek Mitchell, the Pentagon's senior director for China during the Clinton administration.
"The opening ceremony is much more about the host country and celebrating them," he said.
The Save Darfur Coalition and other groups issued an open letter last week urging world leaders to pressure China over what they called Sudan's genocide in that nation's Darfur region. The letter said China has major influence because it is Sudan's "largest economic partner, major military supplier and chief diplomatic supporter."
Human Rights Watch issued a similar letter this week, citing Darfur and the recent Chinese crackdown on Tibet, the jailing of dissidents and media restrictions.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he is weighing his options. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, meanwhile, said he would not participate in any boycott and "nobody hopes for this." The Chinese have not said whether he'll attend.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this week he would not attend the opening, but would go to the closing ceremony. London hosts the 2012 Summer Games. "Politicians have to make decisions themselves," said Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee.
Contributing: Janice Lloyd in Beijing
Friday, September 07, 2007
Bush invites Southeast Asian leaders to Texas
SYDNEY (AFP) — US President George W. Bush on Friday invited Southeast Asian leaders, including an official from Myanmar, to Texas despite his increasingly sharp attacks on the isolated nation's military regime.
In recent days, Bush has branded Myanmar's leaders as "tyrannical" and their crackdown on pro-democracy activists and protests over fuel prices as "inexcusable" as US officials talked about "next steps" to pressure Yangon.
Bush made the announcement as he met with leaders of countries that are members of both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which was meeting in Sydney.
"I invited the ASEAN leaders to Texas at their convenience. I'm looking forward to hosting you down there," said Bush, who reserves invitations to Texas as a diplomatic plum for close allies.
He said democracy promotion, the war on terrorism, trade expansion, avian flu, and climate change would be on the agenda for the talks, which could take place at his ranch or "another location" in Texas, an aide said.
"I also am pleased to announce that we'll be naming an ambassador to ASEAN, so that we can make sure that the ties we've established over the past years remain firmly entrenched," said the US president.
White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said all ASEAN heads of state had been invited, except Myanmar, whose "level of participation is to be determined."
Deputy National Security Adviser Jim Jeffrey said later that Bush had made "an invitation in principle" and stressed "we have to work out the details later," including what he called Myanmar's presence "hypothetically."
The US president unveiled the meeting as he held talks here with leaders of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN's other members are Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
"ASEAN represents our fourth largest trading partner. In other words, this is a group of friends that represent more than just social acquaintances, you represent commerce and trade and prosperity," he said.
Bush's announcement came hours after he called on APEC leaders to pile pressure on the military rulers of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to free pro-democracy activists including Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's military rulers have held the Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy icon under house arrest for 11 of the past 17 years.
"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting and harassing and assaulting pro-democracy activists for organizing or participating in peaceful demonstrations," he said in the keynote speech of his visit to Sydney.
His comments followed US State Department criticism of a Myanmar convention that drew up guidelines for a new constitution, and a political foray by First Lady Laura Bush who asked for UN condemnation of the crackdown.
"It's inexcusable that we've got this kind of tyrannical behaviour in Asia," he said at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard ahead of the 21-member APEC meeting in Sydney.
Bush had already last week criticised the junta's crackdown in a statement but his comments in Sydney were more direct and used harsher language.
Aung San Suu Kyi's party won elections in 1990 but the military never recognised the result, and instead opened the National Convention in 1993 to draft a new constitution.
According to Amnesty International more than 150 people have been detained in Myanmar since August 19, when activists began rare protests against a major hike in fuel prices that left some people unable to afford even a bus fare.
The military regime has long dealt harshly with the slightest show of dissent during 45 years in power, but the latest protests have spread across the country, defying the threat of arrests and beatings.
Bush's invitation came after he postponed indefinitely a planned trip to Singapore for a meeting with all 10 ASEAN members.
In recent days, Bush has branded Myanmar's leaders as "tyrannical" and their crackdown on pro-democracy activists and protests over fuel prices as "inexcusable" as US officials talked about "next steps" to pressure Yangon.
Bush made the announcement as he met with leaders of countries that are members of both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which was meeting in Sydney.
"I invited the ASEAN leaders to Texas at their convenience. I'm looking forward to hosting you down there," said Bush, who reserves invitations to Texas as a diplomatic plum for close allies.
He said democracy promotion, the war on terrorism, trade expansion, avian flu, and climate change would be on the agenda for the talks, which could take place at his ranch or "another location" in Texas, an aide said.
"I also am pleased to announce that we'll be naming an ambassador to ASEAN, so that we can make sure that the ties we've established over the past years remain firmly entrenched," said the US president.
White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said all ASEAN heads of state had been invited, except Myanmar, whose "level of participation is to be determined."
Deputy National Security Adviser Jim Jeffrey said later that Bush had made "an invitation in principle" and stressed "we have to work out the details later," including what he called Myanmar's presence "hypothetically."
The US president unveiled the meeting as he held talks here with leaders of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN's other members are Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
"ASEAN represents our fourth largest trading partner. In other words, this is a group of friends that represent more than just social acquaintances, you represent commerce and trade and prosperity," he said.
Bush's announcement came hours after he called on APEC leaders to pile pressure on the military rulers of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to free pro-democracy activists including Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's military rulers have held the Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy icon under house arrest for 11 of the past 17 years.
"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting and harassing and assaulting pro-democracy activists for organizing or participating in peaceful demonstrations," he said in the keynote speech of his visit to Sydney.
His comments followed US State Department criticism of a Myanmar convention that drew up guidelines for a new constitution, and a political foray by First Lady Laura Bush who asked for UN condemnation of the crackdown.
"It's inexcusable that we've got this kind of tyrannical behaviour in Asia," he said at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard ahead of the 21-member APEC meeting in Sydney.
Bush had already last week criticised the junta's crackdown in a statement but his comments in Sydney were more direct and used harsher language.
Aung San Suu Kyi's party won elections in 1990 but the military never recognised the result, and instead opened the National Convention in 1993 to draft a new constitution.
According to Amnesty International more than 150 people have been detained in Myanmar since August 19, when activists began rare protests against a major hike in fuel prices that left some people unable to afford even a bus fare.
The military regime has long dealt harshly with the slightest show of dissent during 45 years in power, but the latest protests have spread across the country, defying the threat of arrests and beatings.
Bush's invitation came after he postponed indefinitely a planned trip to Singapore for a meeting with all 10 ASEAN members.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Asia may feel 'slighted' as Bush, Rice skip talks: analysts
By P. Parameswaran WASHINGTON (AFP) - A week after US President George W. Bush postponed talks with Southeast Asian leaders, Washington confirmed Tuesday that his top diplomat will also skip an annual meeting with regional counterparts, prompting warnings that Asia may take offence.
As the Bush administration clears the decks to focus on Iraq, the failure by the two to keep their appointments could be seen by the region as a snub, experts say, especially since Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has scrapped her trip twice.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice's deputy John Negroponte would lead the US delegation to the meetings hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila this year.
The meetings include an August 1-2 dialogue between the region and its key trading partners -- ASEAN is the largest US export market after Europe and Japan -- as well as a high-level regional security forum.
The 27-member ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is the only high level official security group in the Asia-Pacific region, and includes Russia, India, China, the European Union and North Korea.
"Secretary Rice regrets that she won't be able to travel to the ASEAN meeting. It is the press of other business," McCormack told reporters, citing her July 30-August 2 trip to the Middle East to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and stability in Iraq.
The White House announced last week that Bush had postponed talks with leaders of the 10 ASEAN states -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The landmark summit, scheduled for September when Bush receives a much-awaited assessment of the situation in insurgency-wracked Iraq, was aimed at highlighting 30 years of official ties between Washington and Southeast Asia.
Rice had cancelled a trip to the annual ASEAN meetings in 2005, becoming the first American secretary of state to skip the ARF talks since they were first held in 1994, drawing criticism from the region which felt its stature had diminished in Washington's eyes.
"Obviously, the Middle East is terribly important but I think it would only be natural if the countries in Southeast Asia did feel a bit slighted," said Asian expert Robert Hathaway of the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.
"Other than the war on terrorism, Washington has in recent years rather neglected that part of the world. So I expect the State Department announcement today will not be welcomed," he said.
ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong had said last week that it would be a "dampener" if Rice skipped this year's meeting.
But McCormack said Washington's engagement in Southeast Asia was unshaken.
"I don't think anybody really seriously questions our engagement in Southeast Asia. We have deep involvement with not only ASEAN but with the individual countries in Southeast Asia," he said.
"I expect that she (Rice) will at some point in the next 18 months travel to Southeast Asia as well," particularly to the Philippines, he said.
Despite the assurances, however, governments in East Asia "firmly believe they are witnessing the long, steady decline of the US commitment to their region," said Walter Lohman, former senior vice president of the US-ASEAN Business Council.
"To them, the latest series of decisions appear to be part of a pattern dating back to the pullout from Clark Air Base and Subic Bay in 1992," he said, referring to the US withdrawal from the key Philippine bases.
While the region is familiar with the overwhelming draw on US attention from Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, "they are also witnessing up close a China that, if it is not yet a superpower, is emerging as first among equals in the region," Lohman said.
"The calculation is not an idle exercise -- governments in East Asia are determining where their future lies and whether they can rely on the United States for the next 50 years in the same way they relied on it for the previous 50," he said.
As the Bush administration clears the decks to focus on Iraq, the failure by the two to keep their appointments could be seen by the region as a snub, experts say, especially since Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has scrapped her trip twice.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice's deputy John Negroponte would lead the US delegation to the meetings hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila this year.
The meetings include an August 1-2 dialogue between the region and its key trading partners -- ASEAN is the largest US export market after Europe and Japan -- as well as a high-level regional security forum.
The 27-member ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is the only high level official security group in the Asia-Pacific region, and includes Russia, India, China, the European Union and North Korea.
"Secretary Rice regrets that she won't be able to travel to the ASEAN meeting. It is the press of other business," McCormack told reporters, citing her July 30-August 2 trip to the Middle East to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and stability in Iraq.
The White House announced last week that Bush had postponed talks with leaders of the 10 ASEAN states -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The landmark summit, scheduled for September when Bush receives a much-awaited assessment of the situation in insurgency-wracked Iraq, was aimed at highlighting 30 years of official ties between Washington and Southeast Asia.
Rice had cancelled a trip to the annual ASEAN meetings in 2005, becoming the first American secretary of state to skip the ARF talks since they were first held in 1994, drawing criticism from the region which felt its stature had diminished in Washington's eyes.
"Obviously, the Middle East is terribly important but I think it would only be natural if the countries in Southeast Asia did feel a bit slighted," said Asian expert Robert Hathaway of the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.
"Other than the war on terrorism, Washington has in recent years rather neglected that part of the world. So I expect the State Department announcement today will not be welcomed," he said.
ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong had said last week that it would be a "dampener" if Rice skipped this year's meeting.
But McCormack said Washington's engagement in Southeast Asia was unshaken.
"I don't think anybody really seriously questions our engagement in Southeast Asia. We have deep involvement with not only ASEAN but with the individual countries in Southeast Asia," he said.
"I expect that she (Rice) will at some point in the next 18 months travel to Southeast Asia as well," particularly to the Philippines, he said.
Despite the assurances, however, governments in East Asia "firmly believe they are witnessing the long, steady decline of the US commitment to their region," said Walter Lohman, former senior vice president of the US-ASEAN Business Council.
"To them, the latest series of decisions appear to be part of a pattern dating back to the pullout from Clark Air Base and Subic Bay in 1992," he said, referring to the US withdrawal from the key Philippine bases.
While the region is familiar with the overwhelming draw on US attention from Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, "they are also witnessing up close a China that, if it is not yet a superpower, is emerging as first among equals in the region," Lohman said.
"The calculation is not an idle exercise -- governments in East Asia are determining where their future lies and whether they can rely on the United States for the next 50 years in the same way they relied on it for the previous 50," he said.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Bush to hold first summit with ASEAN countries
4 May 2007
AFP
AFP
WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush confirmed on Friday that he will attend his first summit with all 10 Southeast Asian leaders, including the region’s most troublesome member, Myanmar, in September.
Bush told visiting Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the White House that he would attend the gathering on his way to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Australia.
“Today I talked to Prime Minister Lee about America’s desire to stay in close contact with not only Singapore, but our partners in what we call the ASEAN nations,” Bush said during a join appearance with Lee.
“To this end, the prime minister has invited me, and I’ve accepted an invitation, to go back to Singapore to talk to our partners and friends about trade and security,” said the US president.
“I encouraged the president to deepen and strengthen the already good ties between the Southeast Asian countries, ASEAN and America, both as a group and also bilaterally, individually, with single countries,” said Lee.
“I suggested to the president that we should consider a suitable new initiative, which perhaps would be able to take our relations another step forward,” the prime minister said without offering more details.
Bush has over the last couple of years met annually with leaders of seven ASEAN states -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- which are also APEC members -- at the sidelines of the forum’s annual talks.
ASEAN’s other members Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are not APEC members.
Myanmar has been a thorn in relations between ASEAN and Washington, which has imposed investment and trade sanctions on Yangon, where the ruling junta is accused of massive human rights violations, suppression of political dissent and refusal to bring democratic reforms.
Bush told visiting Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the White House that he would attend the gathering on his way to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Australia.
“Today I talked to Prime Minister Lee about America’s desire to stay in close contact with not only Singapore, but our partners in what we call the ASEAN nations,” Bush said during a join appearance with Lee.
“To this end, the prime minister has invited me, and I’ve accepted an invitation, to go back to Singapore to talk to our partners and friends about trade and security,” said the US president.
“I encouraged the president to deepen and strengthen the already good ties between the Southeast Asian countries, ASEAN and America, both as a group and also bilaterally, individually, with single countries,” said Lee.
“I suggested to the president that we should consider a suitable new initiative, which perhaps would be able to take our relations another step forward,” the prime minister said without offering more details.
Bush has over the last couple of years met annually with leaders of seven ASEAN states -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- which are also APEC members -- at the sidelines of the forum’s annual talks.
ASEAN’s other members Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are not APEC members.
Myanmar has been a thorn in relations between ASEAN and Washington, which has imposed investment and trade sanctions on Yangon, where the ruling junta is accused of massive human rights violations, suppression of political dissent and refusal to bring democratic reforms.
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