Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced by a court in Burma to a further three years of house arrest for violating the terms of her previous sentence. However her sentence was immediately commuted to 18 months on the orders of Burmese head of state Senior-General Than Shwe out of respect for her father General Aung San and out of a desire for "national reconciliation". The Chinese issued a statement calling for the world to respect Burmese sovereignty and laws, and is seen as an indication that China, a veto power will not support any United Nations actions. John Yettaw whose unauthorised visit led to Aung San Suu Kyi's prosecution has himself been sentenced to seven years imprisonment, four of which will be for hard labour.