The US government has denied that the use of ‘Myanmar’ in recent statements by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry amounts to a change of policy in how it refers to the country.
“It continues to be US government policy to refer to the country as ‘Burma’”, a spokesperson at the American embassy in Yangon told Mizzima in an email on January 7.
“As has been the case for many months now, in certain settings US government officials refer to the country as ‘Myanmar’ as a diplomatic courtesy,” the spokesperson said.
“It is now common for US government officials to use the name ‘Myanmar’ in multilateral settings (ASEAN) or in bilateral settings with Burma,” the spokesperson said, adding that the email had been sent to clarify the issue.
The email was in response to a report filed on Mizzima’s website the previous day which noted that President Obama had used ‘Myanmar’ in a congratulatory message to mark National Day on January 4.
“In an apparent change of policy, US Secretary of State John Kerry has also used Myanmar’s official name in his message to mark National Day,” the report said.
