Dr. Cynthia Maung speaks after accepting the National Endowment for Democracy's (NED) 2012 Democracy Award honoring the Democracy Movement of Burma during a ceremony at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 20, 2012 ( AFP / JIM WATSON)

Posts falsely claim 'Myanmar doctor was invited to ASEAN summit' after junta snub

This article is more than one year old.
Published on October 28, 2021 at 08:26
2 min read
By AFP Thailand

Facebook posts shared thousands of times claim Burmese doctor Cynthia Maung was invited to represent Myanmar at an ASEAN summit after junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was banned. The claim is false: a spokesperson for Maung said the reports were "fake news". There have been no official reports that a representative for Myanmar appeared at the summit.

The post was published here on October 25 on Facebook. It has been shared more than 4,000 times.

"ASEAN invites Dr Cynthia Maung to represent Myanmar at ASEAN summit," the Burmese-language post reads, before detailing her biography and achievements.

"ASEAN does not even invite Permanent Secretaries of SAC (State Administration Council of Myanmar) and the Director-General levels, but to Dr Cynthia Maung, who provides medical care to the people in the camps."

Dr Cynthia Maung is founder of Mae Tao Clinic which provides free healthcare services for displaced people on the Thai-Myanmar border.

Screenshot taken on October 26, 2021, of the misleading post

Myanmar's junta boycotted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after its chief was banned from the event.

The summit kicked off on October 26 and was due to conclude on October 28.

Myanmar topped the agenda on the first day of talks between regional leaders, with the country still in chaos following February's military takeover and the subsequent deadly crackdown on dissent.

US President Joe Biden as well as Chinese and Russian leaders were set to attend the virtual talks.

A similar claim was shared on Facebook here, here, here, here, and here; on Twitter here; and here on YouTube.

However, the claim is false.

The Mae Tao Clinic, founded by Dr Cynthia Maung, said she was not invited to the talks.

"We Mae Tao Clinic would like to confirm that it is fake news", a representative told AFP.

The clinic also issued a statement debunking the claim.

ASEAN had invited Chan Aye, director-general of the junta-appointed foreign affairs ministry, in the chief's place.

But a junta spokesman said that sending a more junior figure could "affect our country's sovereignty and image".

There were no official reports that a Myanmar representative attended the summit.

Several international media also reported that the opening of the summit started without any Myanmar representative here and here.

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