MEN in his line of work rarely reach old age. They die in a hail
of bullets from police sharpshooters or a rival gang, and are
buried fast in shallow jungle graves. Not Lo Hsing Han. At his
funeral a cavalcade of cars, some carrying his portrait
garlanded with flowers, processed through the streets of Yangon,
Myanmar’s principal city, to his high-walled villa, right by the
16th tee of the city golf club. Crowds of villagers attended
from his native region, in the Golden Triangle of Myanmar’s
north-east. They rubbed shoulders with former generals, two
cabinet ministers and the cream of Yangon society.  Mr Lo was a
respected businessman. He was also a pillar of the economy.
Wherever you looked in Myanmar, he and the sprawling Asia World
conglomerate he had founded were involved in some project, often
with Chinese partners. The deep-water port at Kyaukpyu; a $33m
highway from Arakan state to the Chinese border; an oil and gas
pipeline; the Traders luxury hotel. He ran the main bus company,
and was building the M