The World

By Mure Dickie, FT Japan bureau chief

Foreign travel is always a learning experience. The first Asia tour as US president for the usually hyper-capable Barack Obama is a good chance for him to master one important skill needed for diplomacy in the region: how to say the name of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In just about the only duff note in his speech in Tokyo, Obama stumbled badly when his teleprompter reached the bit about Burma, first pausing and then reading it “soo kee?” in a questioning tone. The usual pronunciation is “soo chee”.

Not the end of the world, but hardly helpful given that Obama was trying to show he means business in finding a way to persuade the Burmese regime to release Suu Kyi and liberalise generally.

Nor, on the face of it, is Obama’s “new approach” all that compellingly different from the old. He refreshingly admitted that neither US sanctions nor engagement by others (such as Japan) had succeeded in improving the lives of the Burmese.

So what does Obama have to offer instead? Er, this blend of sanctions and engagement: “We are now communicating directly with the leadership to make it clear that existing sanctions will remain until there are concrete steps toward democratic reform”. Don’t hold your breath.