Clinton Arrives In Myanmar On Landmark Visit

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Myanmar at the start of a landmark three-day visit.

Clinton is the first U.S. secretary of state to visit the Southeast Asian country in more than 50 years.

Clinton arrived on November 30 in the remote new capital of Naypyitaw, where she is to hold talks with the new military-backed civilian leadership.

U.S. officials said Clinton will press Myanmar's leaders on their readiness to open up after decades of international isolation.

She will also travel to the commercial capital Yangon where she is to hold discussions on December 1 with pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung Sun Suu Kyi.

Myanmar has just begun to emerge from half a century of isolation after the military seized power in a coup in 1962, starting decades of brutal authoritarian rule.