Sir Percival Griffiths

Prime Minister U Nu, Daw Mya Yee and Daw Khin Kyi in England 1950

On U Nu's visit to England in 1950, he tried hard to paint as rosy a picture as possible of the situation in Burma. He said peace was likely "within a year" and encouraged British aid and investment. An article published in the UK's Spectator magazine on 26 May 1950, however, painted challenged his optimism: "For some generations it has been customary to speak of the ingrained pessimism of the East, and to contrast it with the active hopefulness of...