Myanmar’s junta went on the offensive over Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial yesterday, blaming “anti-government elements” for the visit of an American to her home.
The comments came after widespread condemnation of the decision to try the Nobel Peace Prize winner on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest because of the intrusion.
The New Light of Myanmar reported Foreign Minister Nyan Win as saying that he believed the bizarre incident — in which a 53-year-old man used homemade flippers to swim across a lake to Aung San Suu Kyi’s house — had been set up by anti-junta forces.
PHOTO: REUTERS
American John Yettaw was arrested after staying for two days earlier this month at the house, for which he now faces trial alongside the pro-democracy leader and two female aides who live with her.
The newspaper reported that the foreign minister told his Japanese counterpart Hirofumi Nakasone during a phone call on Monday that opposition groups were likely behind Yettaw’s visit.
“Minister U Nyan Win expressed his opinion that ... it was likely that this incident was timely trumped up, to intensify international pressure on Myanmar, by internal and external anti-government elements,” the New Light said.
But Yettaw has told the court he swam across the lake after having a premonition Aung San Suu Kyi would be assassinated.
The New Light said the minister believed the controversy had been timed to coincide with a review of policy toward Myanmar while the government was attempting to “build [an] improved relationship with countries all over the world,” the paper said.
A court report in the New Light contradicted the conspiracy theory and said Yettaw had “frightened” Aung San Suu Kyi with his arrival.
A Western diplomat in Yangon, who asked not be named, said the state media report “seems to reveal some kind of disarray and embarrassment” and that the government was reacting to events on a day-to-day basis with no clear strategy.
Security was increased yesterday at Insein Prison in Yangon where the trial is being held, after hundreds of National League for Democracy supporters turned out a day earlier. But few were present yesterday, witnesses said, amid heavy rainfall.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s consul general in Hong Kong has posted a letter on the Internet suggesting that Yettaw was a “secret agent or her boyfriend.”
“Some of our friends inquired about an American, who swam into the Inya Lake, who secretly visited Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s house,” said the letter seen yesterday on the consulate’s Web site.
“Their question is why he swam to her and what they discussed within his stay at her house,” said the letter signed by “the Consulate General of the Union of Myanmar.”
“Frankly, we have no idea whether he is either secret agent or her boyfriend at this moment. We shall try to learn it and tell you later,” it said.
For emphasis, the words “either secret agent or her boyfriend” were in bold and underlined.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from