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US wants Singapore to use financial leverage to pressure Myanmar
State Department Counselor Derek Chollet said during a teleconference in Indonesia that a decision last week by Southeast Asian countries to exclude Myanmar's junta from an upcoming summit was an example of how international pressure can work.
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US envoy Derek Chollet (center) speaks to the media as US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland (2-left) looks on, in the capital Tripoli, on September 15, 2021. Less than a year since a landmark ceasefire, war-torn Libya is preparing for elections, but controversy over a voting law governing the country's presidential elections poses a new threat to the UN-led peace process. (AFP/Mahmud Turkia)
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ingapore has the ability to use its significant financial leverage to pressure Myanmar's military rulers and "make it "harder for them to transact", a senior US official said on Thursday.
State Department Counselor Derek Chollet said during a teleconference in Indonesia that a decision last week by Southeast Asian countries to exclude Myanmar's junta from an upcoming summit was an example of how international pressure can work.
He also said the international community must be realistic about the limited tools it has to bring change in Myanmar, Reuters reported.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chollet, who is in the region to discuss Myanmar ahead of the ASEAN summits, said in a tweet that he had had a "productive" meeting with Monetary Authority of Singapore Deputy Managing Director Ho Hern Shin.
"(W)e discussed ways to limit the Burmese military regime's access to overseas financial assets," said Chollet, a senior adviser to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Also on Wednesday, a senior US official said that the United States sees the decision by Southeast Asian nations to exclude Myanmar's leader from a regional summit as very significant but more needs to be done to address the challenges the country is facing after the military coup there.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) decided last week to invite a non-political representative from Myanmar to its Oct. 26-28 summits, snubbing military chief Min Aung Hlaing.
