Myanmar envoy becomes 4th ambassador to die in China in less than a year

Name: Four democracy activists in Myanmar executed by country’s ruling military junta
Uploaded: 2022-08-08T06:16:33.000Z
Duration: 1 min 46 s
Description: Four democracy activists in Myanmar executed by country’s ruling military junta

U Myo Thant Pe died in Kunming on Sunday of a suspected heart attack, according to diplomatic sources and media reports

He is the fourth ambassador to die in China in the past 12 months. Since September, envoys from Germany, Ukraine and the Philippines have also died

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Myanmar’s ambassador to China U Myo Thant Pe died suddenly on Sunday in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming. Photo: Handout

Reutersin Beijing

Published: 2:16pm, 8 Aug 2022

Myanmar’s ambassador to China died suddenly on Sunday in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, according to an obituary in Myanmar state media and diplomatic sources in Beijing.

The obituary for Ambassador U Myo Thant Pe by Myanmar’s foreign ministry in a state newspaper on Monday did not specify his cause of death.

Diplomats in Beijing and a Chinese language Myanmar media report said the cause was likely to be a heart attack.

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Four democracy activists in Myanmar executed by country’s ruling military junta

Ambassador U Myo Thant Pe was last seen on Saturday meeting a local official in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan which borders Myanmar, according to a local news report.

The Myanmar embassy in China did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U Myo Thant Pe was appointed ambassador to China in 2019 and stayed in his post after Myanmar’s military took power in a coup in February 2021.

He was the fourth ambassador to die in China in the past 12 months.