It seems that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Myanmar in mid-November will come amid strained ties between the two countries.
The looming US sanctions against Myanmar’s 
Zaw Htay was quoted by Reuters as saying that apart from preventing Myanmar’s government from sharing power with the military, the possible sanctions may be also fraught with economic repercussions.
“We need internal stability to improve the country’s economy. Imposing international sanctions directly affects the people in travel and in business investments, and there are many negative consequences,” Htay said.
He added that Myanmar’s stance on the matter would be clarified during US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to the country, scheduled for November 15.
Htay’s remarks came just a day after Democratic US Senator Ben Cardin and Republican US Senator John McCain, introduced a billimposing targeted sanctions and travel restrictions against Myanmar’s military officials.
Earlier, Tillerson called for defusing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, where Muslim insurgents of Rohingya origin attacked the country’s security forces on August 25, 2017, re-igniting the Rohingya crisis.
In late October, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said that the US is withdrawing military assistance programs for Myanmar units and officers “involved in operations in northern Rakhine State.”
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Following the attack, the Myanmar army launched a brutal crackdown, which led to a number of clashes and the death of hundreds of Rohingya people. At least 604,000 Rohingya Muslims have already fled Myanmar, crossing into neighboring Bangladesh, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).