2024 RT Amination Banner.gif

China Daily

Asia Pacific> Asia News> Content
Monday, November 27, 2017, 23:42
Pope Francis meets Myanmar's military chief
By Reuters
Monday, November 27, 2017, 23:42 By Reuters

Pope Francis is greeted by young children in traditional clothes upon his arrival at Yangon's airport, Myanmar, Nov 27, 2017. The pontiff is in Myanmar for the first stage of a week-long visit that will also take him to neighboring Bangladesh. (ANDREW MEDICHINI / AP)

YANGON – Pope Francis held talks on Monday with Myanmar's military chief at the start of a delicate visit to a majority-Buddhist country that the United States has accused of "ethnic cleansing" against its Muslim Rohingya people.

They (Pope Francis and Myanmar's military chief) discussed the great responsibility of authorities of the country in this time of transition

Greg Burke, Vatican spokesman 

The leader of the Roman Catholic church will also visit Bangladesh, where more than 620,000 Rohingya have fled to escape what Amnesty International has called "crimes against humanity". 

Myanmar's army has denied accusations of murder, rape, torture and forced displacement that have been made against it. 

READ MORE: China proposes three-phase solution to Rakhine issue

The pope's first meeting in Yangon was with military commander Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in St Mary's Cathedral in the heart of the Southeast Asian nation's largest city. 

"They discussed the great responsibility of authorities of the country in this time of transition," Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said after the 15 minutes of talks, which were followed by an exchange of gifts. 

Francis presented the general with a commemorative medal of his visit, and Min Aung Hlaing gave the pope a harp in the shape of a boat and an ornate rice bowl, Burke said. 

The army chief told the pope that "there's no religious discrimination in Myanmar and there's the freedom of religion," according to a statement on the Facebook page of Min Aung Hlaing. "Every soldier's goal is to build a stable and peaceful country," the army chief was paraphrased as saying in the statement. 

ALSO READ: Bangladesh, Myanmar to let UNHCR assist Rohingya return

Members of ethnic minority groups in traditional dress welcomed Francis at Yangon airport, and children presented him with flowers as he stepped off his plane. 

He waved through an open window at dozens of children waving Vatican and Myanmar flags and wearing T-shirts with the motto of the trip – "love and peace" – as he set off in a car. 

Ethnic Kachin Catholic devotees gather along a road to see Pope Francis, Nov 27, 2017, in Yangon, Myanmar ahead of his arrival. (GEMUNU AMARASINGHE / AP)

Only about 700,000 of Myanmar's 51 million people are Roman Catholic. Thousands of them travelled by train and bus to Yangon, and they joined crowds at several roadside points along the way from the airport to catch a glimpse of the pope. 

More than 150,000 people have registered for a mass that Francis will say in Yangon on Wednesday, according to Catholic Myanmar Church spokesman Mariano Soe Naing. 

"We come here to see the Holy Father. It happens once in hundreds of years," said Win Min Set, a community leader who brought a group of 1,800 Catholics from the south and west of the country. 

Large numbers of riot police were mobilized in Yangon but there were no signs of any protests. 

SENSITIVITY OVER WORD 'ROHINGYA' 

The trip is so delicate that some papal advisers have warned Francis against even saying the word "Rohingya", lest he set off a diplomatic incident that could turn the country's military and government against minority Christians. 

The Rohingya exodus from Rakhine state to Bangladesh's southern tip began at the end of August, when Rohingya militants attacked security posts and the Myanmar army launched a clearance operation. 

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week called the military operation "ethnic cleansing" and threatened targeted sanctions for "horrendous atrocities". 

In this Nov 19, 2017 photo, tents are seen in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh where Rohingya Muslims live after crossing over from Myanmar into Bangladesh. (WONG MAYE-E / AP)

Myanmar's government has denied most of the accusations made against it, and the army says its own investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing by troops. 

Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as citizens nor as members of a distinct ethnic group with their own identity, and it even rejects the term "Rohingya" and its use. 

Many people in Myanmar instead refer to members of the Muslim minority in Rakhine state as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. 

Francis is expected to meet a group of Rohingya refugees in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on the second leg of his trip. 

The most tense moments of his Myanmar visit were expected to be the private meeting with the army chief and, separately, with civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday.

Share this story