The military coup in Burma sets an early critical test for Biden’s government on how it will respond to the crisis amid its promise to coordinate with international allies and consult Congress on foreign policy issues.
President Biden was quick to denounce the military takeover and arrest of democratically elected government officials, including Nobel laureate and leader of the majority-ruling National League democracy for Aung San Suu Kyi.
The State Department announced on Tuesday that it formally views the crisis as a coup, causing certain sanctions and a review of U.S. aid to the country.
There is strong dual support from legislators for the government to act sensibly in response to the military coup in Burma, also referred to as Myanmar.
Supporters of Congress on both sides of the aisle welcome the quick communication by State Department officials to inform them about the events in the country.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers are united in their condemnation of Burma’s democratic decline and are deeply invested in protecting vulnerable minority communities such as the Rohingya, who suffered under the Burmese army in what the United Nations said amounts to genocide. Suu Kyi is a complex partner for the West. She enjoys popular democratic support at home, but has come under international criticism for not standing up for the rights of the Rohingya.
“The government has made the right decision to impose a coup in Myanmar,” Senator James Risch (R-Idaho), the outgoing chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations, said in a statement. “This determination will ensure that U.S. taxpayers will not benefit from the military junta that has wrongly taken over the power from the civilian government.”
The Burmese army, the Tatmadaw, carried out its coup early Monday morning local time and issued a national emergency statement in response to what it said was the government’s failure to address its allegations of fraud during the November election. a charge contested by locals. and international election observers.
According to the United Nations, they have arrested Burmese President U Win Myint, dozens of other political leaders, their family members and civil society activists. Human rights groups have reported internet shutdowns, telephone interruptions and bank closures.
The Tatmadaw handed over the country for one year to military chief General Min Aung Hlaing, who was approved by the US in 2019 for his role in human rights violations and corruption related to the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.
An Assistant Congressman said Biden’s government was of the opinion that things were looking relatively peaceful in the country at the moment and that Americans were safe on the ground. The assistant said the US wants to impose additional sanctions on the Tatmadaw.
U.S. influence through sanctions is limited. The Trump administration has largely limited the amount of U.S. foreign aid to the Burmese government. The vast majority of US $ 135 million in aid goes to civil society and humanitarian projects.
“The Trump administration, despite its other issues, has not been soft on human rights in Myanmar,” said Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations.
More telling will be how Biden can use diplomacy to influence Burma’s army to reverse course.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price said US officials in Washington and around the world were “burning up the phones” to contact like-minded allies in Europe, the Indian Pacific and Southeast Asia over democracy efforts to recover.
“This is really a broad approach to our foreign policy,” Price said. “We understand that the United States is going to be the most powerful country in the world in every challenge, but to bring those allies, those partners together, are power multipliers.”
The reaction of the international community is somewhat divided, and Western democracies have condemned the coup by force, while regional countries and the neighbors of Myanmar are seen as a more cautious approach.
One key country is Japan, which local experts see as close economic ties with Myanmar and has the ability to exercise strategic leverage, but may not be willing to do so.
“They are reluctant to take a tougher approach to Myanmar because it is of vital strategic and economic importance to them,” said Kurlantzick of the Foreign Relations Council.
While Japan initially called the events in Myanmar a serious source of concern, Japan on Wednesday, along with the G7 countries, explicitly condemned the coup and united with European and North American allies, including the US.
Regional experts also note the reaction of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has ten members, which has so far expressed muted concern. A statement from Brunei’s intergovernmental group, which said that the army’s role in overthrowing the democratic government was not addressed.
An Assistant Congressman said the statement from ASEAN indicated that he was unlikely to act given the organization’s requirement to govern by consensus among its members, including Burma.
“It’s unlikely that ASEAN will do anything about it, which is unfortunate, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on whether individual ASEAN member states are campaigning for something, even if it’s not successful.”
The Philippines has indicated that it is practical in Myanmar, with a spokesman for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte calling the military takeover “an internal affair”.
Thailand underwent its own military coup in 2014. The current civilian government is widely regarded as a proxy for military rule, with a former army chief serving as prime minister.
China, in turn, has distanced itself from criticism of the situation in Myanmar, with the Foreign Ministry saying that Beijing is a friendly neighbor of Rangoon and ‘hoping that all parties in Myanmar will properly deal with their differences under the constitutional and legal framework and will maintain political and social stability. ”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Price said instability in Burma was “not in the interest of the Chinese,” Kurlantzick said.
‘China has built a close relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi. “The army in Myanmar and China do not have good relations,” he said. “The idea that it is somehow beneficial to China is wrong.”
Chris Ankersen, professor at the NYU School of Professional Studies Center for Global Affairs, said the rare alignment between Washington and Beijing could provide an opportunity for collaboration.
“National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan
Jake Sullivan Study Group recommends that Biden delay the withdrawal of Afghanistan Burma coup puts an early test to Biden’s foreign policy. Xi Jinping increases the pressure on Biden – will Kim Jong Un take on the fight? MORE recently indicated that he wants to see a China dimension added to all foreign policy issues. “It provides a clear opening to see how the intent plays out,” he told The Hill in an email.
Such cooperation did not play out during an emergency meeting on Myanmar at the United Nations Security Council, of which the US and China are permanent members.
Tuesday’s meeting ended without a joint statement, despite UN special envoy to Burma Christine Schraner Burgener urging the body to “jointly send a clear signal in support of democracy in Myanmar.”
“I call on this Council, especially members who influence the military, to exercise its preventive and human rights obligations to ensure that lives and civil liberties are protected,” Schraner Burgener said.