Last year in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, President Barack Obama announced that he would convene a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Late in December the White House set the date for the summit, Feb.15-16 2016 at the “Camp David of the West Coast,” Sunnylands, California. President Thein Sein of Burma was among the leaders who were confirmed for the summit. However, just four days before the summit began Thein Sein surprisingly canceled his trip and sent Vice President Nyan Htun in his place.
Originally, the reason given for the cancellation was that Thein Sein “had other business to attend to.” Since then the Burmese government has stated that President Thein Sein wouldn’t attend the two-day summit because he is committed to presiding over the “transition of political power” from his government’s military-backed rule to Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected National League for Democracy (NLD). (Courtesy of The Chicago Monitor)
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