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.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’