Connie Levett: Burma's junta plays the game, but always to win

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

When the new British ambassador went to Naypyidaw, the remote Burmese capital, to present his diplomatic credentials in mid-2006, he reportedly thought the meeting with Senior General Than Shwe went well. He found out otherwise, when he returned to Rangoon to read a very personal attack in the government-backed press, naming him and accusing him of violating diplomatic procedure by making contact with the main opposition group.

This stage-managed game of diplomatic cat and mouse is one the Burmese generals know well and will happily play all day: appear to be conciliatory, lull the visitor and then snap back.

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