Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi spent her 64th birthday in detention yesterday as supporters worldwide condemned her trial and called for tougher sanctions against the country’s military regime.
Nyan Win, a lawyer defending the Nobel laureate who faces up to five years in jail, said Aung San Suu Kyi would be allowed a few visitors to Yangon’s Insein prison, where she is on trial over charges she broke the terms of her house arrest.
“I’m going to send her some birthday presents and food so she can celebrate with a few guests,” he said.
Confined for nearly 14 of the past 20 years, Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday has become an annual ritual inside and outside Myanmar for campaigners seeking an end to decades of military rule that has left the country an impoverished intersnational pariah.
But the day has taken on added significance this year amid international outrage at her trial, which is widely expected to end with a guilty verdict. Protests are planned outside Myanmar embassies in major capitals around the world.
An online campaign drew thousands of messages of support, including good wishes from world leaders and celebrities.
“Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration to her country and the rest of the world,” wrote former Beatle Paul McCartney. “I truly admire her infallible resolve and her determination to stand up for what she believes in.”
SEASONAL MORATORIUM: The boat was boarded and seized by the China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay outside restricted waters on July 2 Four crew members of a Taiwanese fishing vessel detained by Chinese authorities since July 2 are expected to be released today, but the return dates of the captain and the boat remain uncertain, a former official said. The Fujian Provincial People’s Government’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) is likely to first release the crew members today, including a Taiwanese surnamed Ting (丁) and three Indonesians, former Penghu County Council deputy speaker Chen Shuang-chuan (陳雙全) said yesterday. They are to take a boat to the median line of the Taiwan Strait, where they would be picked up by the Da Jin Man No. 96
China appears to be using a new type of BZK-005 drone that might be capable of disrupting the radio communications in the Taiwanese military and causing the radar system to malfunction, a military source said yesterday. The military is closely monitoring traces of this upgraded drone after the Japanese Ministry of Defense recently captured images of a BZK-005 drone, which had a large number of antennas under the nose of the aircraft and a pod of unknown purpose attached under the belly of the craft. Defense experts in other countries had warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has bolstered
CHAMPION: Lin Yu-ting overcame adversity and intense international scrutiny on her path to Olympic victory. She said it means so much to win the gold for her country Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) emerged as Olympic champion in the women’s 57kg (featherweight) division on Saturday in Paris (Sunday in Taipei), despite facing online abuse due to gender misconceptions over the past two weeks. Lin defeated Julia Szeremeta of Poland by a unanimous 5-0 decision to clinch the gold, completing a long journey of redemption after being eliminated from the Tokyo Games in 2021 in her opening bout. Lin, who has been competing in women’s events since her boxing debut in September 2013, is the first Taiwanese boxer to win gold, after three other Taiwanese female boxers earned bronze medals in
MESSAGE TO THE WORLD: A letter by overseas Taiwanese organizations also called on the international community to ‘support democracy’ by opposing Chinese pressure Twenty-four overseas Taiwanese organizations in a joint letter urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to stop infringing on spectators’ freedom of speech and allow them to display Taiwan signage. The letter, addressed to IOC president Thomas Bach and members of the IOC executive board, was led by the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), along with 23 other overseas Taiwanese organizations from the US, Japan, Europe, Argentina and Costa Rica. During the Olympic games, signs or items with the words “Taiwan” on them have been snatched away by Olympic security staff or Chinese spectators. Some spectators holding such signs have been forcibly