Criticism of the Burmese government move to Naypyidaw, which appeared on a Chinese embassy website, has been abruptly removed, informed sources in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

A Reuters report earlier said the criticism, posted by a Chinese diplomat in Rangoon, “came as a huge shock to diplomats in Rangoon, including the Chinese.”

The diplomat wrote critically about the difficulties of traveling to and from Naypyidaw, which became Burma’s new capital in a surprise move in 2005. “If you are in a rush and unable to get a flight, you’ll have to drive, but the road is not good, and it takes about seven hours one way,” his report said. “Many people can’t stand it.”

Chinese diplomats in Rangoon had no comment to make. But a well-informed Chinese source in Thailand told The Irrawaddy that the account, posted by a “young diplomat,” on the official web site was “unprofessional” and was not in line with Beijing’s policy. The source said China did not really care about the move to Naypyidaw.

China is considered to be Burma’s major political and military ally, providing the regime with arms and also diplomatic support at the UN and in other international arenas. Its support for the move to Naypyidaw extended last year to the provision of 130 railway carriages for the train service between Rangoon and the new capital.

The gift was a clear indication that China was not out of touch with the planned move to Naypyidaw and had no complaint to make about the move.

One of the first official foreign visitors to Naypyidaw was China’s Minister for Information Industry, Wang Xudong, who was welcomed there in April 2006, six months after the relocation.

China’s ready acceptance of the relocation was in contrast to reactions in other neighboring countries in the region, which were kept in the dark about the plan and expressed shock and dismay when the move was announced.

While China uncomplainingly accepted the move, Western diplomats in Rangoon publicly expressed reluctance to relocate their embassies to central Burma. Eric John, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, told The Irrawaddy in 2006 that the US, which had embarked on the construction of a new embassy in Rangoon, had no plan to designate the Rangoon mission now as a consulate.

John said Naypyidaw was no legitimate capital but merely an ego project of Burmese military leaders.

Chinese diplomats have other things on their minds right now, following the announcement that Russia is to help Burma build a nuclear research facility. The Chinese source in Bangkok said China was watching developments.

China has so far made no statement on the nuclear reactor project, which will entail the construction by Russia’s atomic energy agency Rosatom of a 10-megawatt nuclear reactor with low enriched uranium consisting of less than 20% uranium-235.

China has actively participated in six-nation talks involving North Korea, which recently successfully detonated a nuclear weapon. That development and the move now by Burma to master nuclear technology have set alarm bells ringing in Beijing. The Chinese source said that although China wants to maintain its friendship with Burma and exert its influence in the region, it certainly isn’t comfortable sharing borders with such unpredictable nuclear neighbors as North Korea and Burma.