US Vice President Mike Pence has told Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi that the violence and persecution by her country's military and vigilantes that sent more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh was inexcusable.
Pence told Suu Kyi in a brief meeting before they went into private talks at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore that the US was anxious to hear of progress in holding people accountable for the Rohingya crisis.
"The violence and persecution by military and vigilantes that resulted in driving 700,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh is without excuse," he told Suu Kyi.
She responded to Pence, saying: "Of course people have different points of view but the point is that you should exchange these views and try to understand each other better.
"In a way we can say that we understand our country better than any other country does and I'm sure you will say the same of yours, that you understand your country better than anybody else," she added.
Myanmar says its operations in Rakhine were a legitimate response to attacks on security forces by Rohingya insurgents in August last year.
Amnesty International this week withdrew its most prestigious human rights prize from Suu Kyi, accusing her of perpetuating human rights abuses by not speaking out about violence against the Rohingya.
Once hailed as a champion in the fight for democracy, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner has been stripped of a series of international honours over the Rohingya exodus.
Pence also said Washington wanted to see a free and democratic press in Myanmar, and the jailing of two journalists last year was "deeply troubling" for millions of Americans.
He did not mention by name Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists who were arrested in Yangon in December 2017. They were found guilty in September of breaching the Official Secrets Act and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Australian Associated Press
