Myanmar - schmyanmar

RNZ reporting the foreign ministry is now going back to "Burma" instead of using the pro-regime "Myanmar". Rather like the Cambodia/Kampuchea situation in the 70s and 80s where the old name survives the dictatorship's new name for the nation before it disappears into the history books.

Beehive website references to Myanmar in 2010 have all been to do with official delegations and agreements where the NZ govt and the Burmese regime have had dealings, but mostly the govt. has already been using Burma.As for Aung San Suu Kyi, her release from confinement at her lakeside villa underscores her ineffectiveness as any sort of resistance leader and is proof she is not a threat to the junta. If she was a real threat they would not have released her. She is a collaborationist figure and the regime need her to keep heading the official opposition (such as it is in a dictatorship) because it is the only way they can continue. It would be a disaster for the regime if she left the political scene because any other leader would be more militant - and would likely acheive a lot more than she has in the 20 or so years of her palacial detention. She does not have the inclination to confront them - that's why they keep her around.