Hillary Clinton pushes reform in historic Myanmar talks

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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won promises of further reforms from Myanmar's rulers in historic talks on Thursday, but said it was too soon to end sanctions after decades of repression.

Paying the most senior US visit in more than half a century to a nation long distrustful of the West, Clinton offered only cautious incentives to encourage more action, despite a call by China for Western sanctions to be lifted.

Clinton said Myanmar's leaders 'assured me that progress would continue and broaden' and she welcomed the removal of restrictions on democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, whom she will meet later today in the commercial hub Yangon.

"We're not at the point yet that we can consider lifting sanctions that we have in place due to our ongoing concerns over policies that have to be reversed," she said after talks with President Thein Sein, a former general.

"But any steps that the government takes will be carefully considered and ... will be matched because we want to see political and economic reform take hold," she told reporters in Myanmar's isolated showcase capital Naypyidaw.

Thein Sein, who took charge in March after Myanmar nominally ended decades of military rule, himself hailed a 'new chapter in relations' as he met Clinton at his imposing palace decked out with chandeliers and gold-leaf chairs.

Since last year, Myanmar has freed Suu Kyi from years of house arrest, held dialogue with the Nobel Peace Prize winner and released hundreds of political prisoners. Suu Kyi hopes to run in by-elections early next year.

Clinton's delicate Myanmar trip is a test-case for President Barack Obama's policy of engaging US adversaries.

Upon taking office, Obama promised to reach out to all who 'unclench their fists' but regimes such as Iran and Syria have instead led deadly crackdowns on the opposition.