Reuters :The United States is considering further easing or lifting sanctions against Myanmar around the time of a White House visit this month by the country’s new leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, U.S. officials told Reuters.President Barack Obama is expected to decide on the extent of the sanctions relief after consultations between Suu Kyi and his administration to gauge how far she wants Washington to go in loosening the screws on Myanmar’s still-powerful military.Obama will attend a Group of 20 leaders’ summit this weekend in China followed by an East Asia summit in Laos, where Suu Kyi may also be present. She will visit Washington on Sept. 14-15 for meetings with Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, members of the U.S. Congress and business leaders.Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and democracy icon, helped persuade the West to impose sanctions during her years as a jailed opposition leader. She is now trying to strike a balance between showing her people the economic rewards of a democratic transition while keeping pressure on the country’s generals for further reforms.Obama’s historic opening to Myanmar followed by its peaceful transition to an elected civilian-led government is seen as one of his foreign policy achievements. But with less than five months left in office, his administration remains wary of giving up leverage for removing the vestiges of military rule.Suu Kyi’s Washington visit would be her first since her National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept into power after November 2015 elections.Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, met this week with congressional staffers and told them the president was considering reducing sanctions or removing them altogether, several U.S. officials said.The U.S. officials spoke to Reuters this week on condition of anonymity.The White House declined comment.Washington is eager to expand relations with Myanmar to help counteract China’s rise in Asia and let U.S. businesses take advantage of the opening of one of the world’s last “frontier markets” – fast-growing but less developed emerging economies.
