Myanmar’s ambassador to China died suddenly in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming on Sunday. This is evident from an obituary in the Myanmar state media and also reported diplomatic sources in Beijing.
The obituary for Ambassador U Myo Thant Pe by the Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a state newspaper did not specify the cause of death. Diplomats in Beijing and a report in Myanmar media said the ambassador probably died of a heart attack.
U Myo Thant Pe was last seen meeting a local official in southwestern China’s Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar, on Saturday, according to a local news report.
U Myo Thant Pe was appointed ambassador to China in 2019 and remained in office after Myanmar’s military took power in a coup d’état in February 2021.
He was the fourth ambassador to China to die since 2021. Ukrainian ambassador Serhiy Kamyshev (65) died in February 2021 during or shortly after a visit to a site of the Beijing Winter Olympics. German ambassador Jan Hecker (54) died in September, less than two weeks after his appointment in Beijing. And Philippine Ambassador Jose Santiago ‘Chito’ Sta. Romana, 74, died in quarantine in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui in April.
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