Myanmar's military junta summoned foreign diplomats to its new remote capital to meet with the UN envoy attempting to end the country's political crisis and promote democratic reform, diplomats said yesterday.
The diplomats were asked to meet tomorrow with envoy Ibrahim Gambari in Naypyitaw, where he has been holding talks with Cabinet ministers but has yet to meet with powerful junta leader Senior General Than Shwe.
The agenda for the meeting was not known, said the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of protocol. There had been speculation Gambari would return to Yangon yesterday to meet with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Gambari met with both Than Shwe and Suu Kyi when he last visited early last month, following the junta's bloody Sept. 26-27 crackdown on anti-government protests.
On Monday, he had talks with Foreign Minister Nyan Win and with representatives of the Red Cross and the country's ethnic minority groups in Naypyitaw, the new capital, officials and the UN said.
Diplomats said they hoped Gambari would also visit Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city. An easing of security outside her Yangon home, where she is under house arrest, indicated such a visit would be allowed.
But a meeting with Than Shwe was far from certain because of a rift between the UN and Myanmar's military government.
On Friday, the day before Gambari's arrival, the junta announced it would expel the top UN official in the country, resident coordinator Charles Petrie.
It accused Petrie of going beyond his duties by issuing a statement criticizing the generals' failure to meet the economic and humanitarian needs of the people, and by saying this was the cause of September's protests.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the US wanted Gambari to be allowed to "convey his message directly to all the parties he wishes to see" so he could tell Myanmar's leaders of "the need for them to change their policies."
The military stamped out the peaceful demonstrations in late September by firing on the protesters. Authorities said 10 people were killed, but diplomats and dissidents said the death toll was much higher. Thousands of people were detained.
There have been only two open demonstrations since then. On Saturday, about 50 Buddhist monks dispersed on orders of riot police and soldiers after a peaceful march through the ruby mining town of Mogok, residents said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese