Myanmar Foreign Minister and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi speaks during a special keynote at the Foreign Ministry in Bangkok, Thailand, June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
WASHINGTON/YANGON (Reuters) - The United States has decided to place Myanmar on its global list of worst offenders in human trafficking, officials said, a move aimed at prodding the country’s new democratically elected government and its still-powerful military to do more to curb the use of child soldiers and forced labour.
The reprimand of Myanmar comes despite U.S. efforts to court the strategically important country to help counteract China’s rise in the region and build a Southeast Asian bulwark against Beijing’s territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea.
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