Mainland media acts positively on release
Mainland media responded positively yesterday to the release of Myanmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, with the story featuring prominently on most state-run news websites and televised news.
'Myanmar's main opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi released from capture,' ran the headline on state newswire Xinhua, listing the story as one of its top international headlines.
The 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate's release was a potential hot potato for state media, coming just weeks after this year's prize was awarded to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and in light of striking parallels between the two cases.
Liu, one of the driving forces behind the Charter 08 campaign, was jailed for 11 years in December last year for 'inciting subversion of state power and the socialist system'.
State media initially ignored Liu's winning of the peace prize - announced on October 8 - but later mounted a campaign of editorials that decried the decision as a perversion of the prize's aims.
Although there was no official government reaction to Suu Kyi's release, the story was given high billing on most news sources.
The Xinhua story reported that the National League for Democracy (NLD) general secretary was met by 'around 1,000 supporters' when she stepped free on Saturday evening.
China Central Television carried a one-minute report on its morning news bulletin, stating Suu Kyi had been placed under house arrest three times since July 1989.
It also stated that Myanmar last week held its 'first multi-party national election in 20 years', but the NLD had not taken part after refusing to re-register and 'legally automatically losing legal status'.
The story was given particular prominence on sites not directly under the Communist Party's control.
The popular news portal NetEase ran the story as one of its top photo pieces, featuring a gallery filled with images of the veteran democracy activist being greeted by her cheering supporters. The website also reported that Suu Kyi was awarded a Nobel prize - without stating the category - in 1991.
