Senior General Than Shwe

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Fact
Position:
SPDC Chairman, Head of State

Date of Birth:
2 February 1933

Birthplace:
Minzu village, near Kyaukse, Mandalay Division

Ethnicity and Religion:
Burman, Buddhist

Education:
10th Standard at Kyakse High School, Officer Training School (9th Batch) in Hmawbi

Latest News:
Rumoured to be still consulting Naypyidaw on the democratic process and foreign policy


Background
Head of state of Myanmar (Burma), serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Tatmadaw and chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), head of Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) since 23 April 1992. Than Shwe is considered to be a hardliner and responsible for the hard handed approach against protestors, the suppression of free press, imprisonment of ASSK and political threats. He is also well known for being superstitious and the driving force behind moving the capital to Naypyidaw. Than Shwe is known to be introverted, rarely makes public appearances; it is rumoured that he has intestinal cancer.

Career Data
-1953 Attended elementary school and did not complete secondary school. Worked briefly as a mail delivery clerk.
1953 Enlisted in the army, assigned to the psychological warfare unit and participated in the government’s powerful counter-insurgency campaign against ethnic guerrillas in eastern Burma
1960 Promoted to the rank of Captain
1962 Assisted General Ne Win seize power in a coup after a brief period of democracy in Burma
1972 Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel
1978 Colonel
1983 Commander of the Southwest Regional Command (Irrawaddy delta)
1985 Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Brigadier-General and Deputy Minister of Defence
1986 Major General, member of the seat on the Burma Socialist Party's Central Executive Committee
1988 Member of the 21 SLORC cabinet; Commander-in-Chief of the army
1992 Chairman of the Council, head of state, Secretary of Defence and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces

Statements





High level foreign meetings
Date Location Partner Foreign Official
12-15 Nov 2009 Colombo Sri Lanka
15 August 2009 Naypyidaw USA Senator Mr. Jim Webb, Chairman of the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee
14 June 2009 Naypyidaw Sri Lanka President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa
July 2009 Naypyidaw UN UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon
October 27 2008 Naypyidaw China Vice Chief-of-Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Gen Zhang Li
6 August 2008 Naypyidaw Kuwait Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
23 May 2008 Naypyidaw UN UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon
15 November 2007 Naypyidaw China Chinese government’s special envoy, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi
2 October 2007 Naypyidaw UN United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari
14 August 2007 Naypyidaw Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung, the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
21 March 2007 Naypyidaw Lao Choummaly Sayasone, President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
26 January 2007 Naypyidaw Thailand General Boonsrang Niumpradit, Supreme Commander of Royal Thai Armed Forces
23 January 2007 Naypyidaw China Li Tieying, the vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China
11 November 2006 Naypyidaw UN United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari
24 October 2006 Naypyidaw China Chief of general staff of the Chinese army, Gen Liang Guanglie
2 August 2006 Naypyidaw Thailand Thai caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
May 2006 Naypyidaw UN United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari
9 March 2006 Yangon India Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam
1 March 2006 Yangon Indonesia Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
20 January 2006 Yangon India Indian naval delegation led by chief admiral Arun Prakash
5 September 2003 Laos Laos


Last Updated on Wednesday, 31 March 2010 20:57