Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has made clear to foreign diplomats: It doesn’t matter if they call her country Myanmar, or its old name, Burma.
Suu Kyi gave her position Friday in a speech to the foreign diplomatic corps. She is the government’s de facto leader in the specially created post of state counsellor, and also is foreign minister. Her National League for Democracy party took power from an army-backed government at the end of March.
Democracy supporters in Burma balked when the then-ruling military renamed the country Myanmar in 1989. The military in turn was irritated when activists and their supporters abroad — including many Western governments — insisted on sticking with the old name. (Courtesy of The Washington Post)
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