U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today said she was incredibly emotional and gratifying to see Aung San Suu Kyi personally, free from the many years of house arrest, during an interview with Kim Ghattas of the BBC.
During the interview, Ms. Clinton said Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration to the world.
“To see her once again leading her party and standing for elections in this new democratic process they are trying to put into place was a great honor and a delight to spend time with her.”
– Ms. Clinton
She noted that Aung San Suu Kyi’s perspective depicts signs of change, that there is a rhetorical commitment to reform.
Reform in Burma will not be easy, because while many people do want reform, there are strong forces opposed to the status quo.
“I think it’s very wise of her to take advantage of that, to do everything she can to support it because, as in any transition, as this one could very well be, there are those who are pushing reform, and there are those who are dead set against it, and then there are probably the most people in the middle trying to gauge which way they should jump.”
– Ms. Clinton
Ms. Clinton stressed that the United States is closely coordinating with Aung San Suu Kyi, but also with many others. She said they have had high-level visits to Burma for nearly two and a half years.
“It was critical that we closely coordinated with Aung San Suu Kyi, but she was not the only person we were working with. And uniformly led by her, we were encouraged to engage. And as she said publicly, she appreciated what the United States was doing, and we all hope that it can continue.”
– Ms. Clinton
