BURMA INFORMALLY REQUESTS TO UPGRADE ITS

S E C R E T RANGOON 000042

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2019
TAGS: OFDP ODIP PREL BM
SUBJECT: BURMA INFORMALLY REQUESTS TO UPGRADE ITS
WASHINGTON COM TO AMBASSADOR

Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Larry Dinger for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)

Informal request: signal willingness to grant agrement for an
ambassador
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1. (C) On Jan. 21, Paw Lwin Sein, Director General,
Training, Research, and Foreign Language Department, Burmese
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, took the opportunity of a social
event to pass emboff an oral message from Minister of Foreign
Affairs Nyan Win. The Government of Burma would like to
upgrade the Burmese Chief of Mission status in Washington
from Charge d'Affaires to Ambassador. In doing so, Burma
would replace its incumbent Charge, a career military
officer, with a civilian Foreign Service Officer. The
explanation for Minister Nyan Win's request was that, since
the current U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Rangoon "is an
ambassador by virtue of prior posts," it is time to approach
the new U.S. Administration informally to seek to install a
career diplomat in place of a career military officer as
Ambassador to the United States. The Minister is hoping for
a reply within a reasonable period of time. Paw Lwin Sein
expressed hope that the new U.S. Administration would allow
more dialogue between the governments of Burma and the United
States, and that the information he conveyed might be a
starting point.

History
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2. (C) The United States removed the "ambassador" title
from its Chief of Mission in Rangoon in about 1990, in
reaction to the bloody suppression of peaceful demonstrations
for democracy in 1988 and the Burmese regime's refusal to
accept the result of elections in 1990 that should have
brought Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy to
power. Since then, Washington has sent seven chiefs of
mission to Rangoon as charge. We are told that the USG
continued to accept Burmese ambassadors to Washington until
sometime in the current decade when the USG didn't act on
Burma's agrement request for a new ambassador, leaving the
GOB little option but to send a Charge.

Comment
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3. (C) We are confident Paw Lwin Sein was acting under
instruction from his boss the Foreign Minister. It is
extremely likely that the Minister only ordered the approach
after receiving approval from the most senior generals. FYI:
Charge Dinger has been very careful to label himself
"charge," not "ambassador" in Burma. Burma MFA's diplomatic
list continues to place the U.S. Charge below all
ambassadors, including those more recently arrived, in the
formal pecking order. That said, many others in the
diplomatic corps are aware of the Charge's past
ambassadorships and routinely call him "ambassador." Except
for not having a credentials-presentation ceremony with
Senior General Than Shwe and not moving up the dip list,
Charge Dinger has experienced no noticeable disadvantage from
his current status. He has obtained access similar to that
of other active Western COMs to engage with GOB Ministers,
the head of Military Intelligence, and others.


4. (S) The inquiry from MFA suggests some degree of
discomfort with the current COM situation in Washington. It
also fits with other recent indications of possible regime
interest in increasing engagement with the United States,
including SPDC Vice Chairman Maung Aye,s invitation for a
senior U.S. military official to visit Burma and reports in
other channels. Unfortunately, we have seen no indication
that the regime is, in the words of President Obama's
inauguration speech, opening its clenched fist at home.
Still, to the extent the new Administration is interested and
circumstances merit, a positive response to the GOB's
"ambassador" request could be a way to start increasing
direct Washington contact with the GOB in pursuit of our
political reform agenda.
DINGER