SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – A growing number of governments are maintaining diplomatic ties with Myanmar and increasing economic pressure on its military over last week’s coup that wiped out the fragile democratic progress in the long-repressed Southeast Asian country.
President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he was issuing an executive order that would prevent the Myanmar generals from having access to $ 1 billion in assets in the United States, and promised more measures.
The US was one of many Western governments that lifted the most sanctions to encourage democratic transition in recent decades, as Myanmar’s military rulers gradually took steps toward civilian rule – changes that appeared to be temporary with the expulsion of the elected government and detention of Nobel laureate Aung San. Suu Kyi and others.
One of the strongest reactions came from New Zealand, which suspended all military and high-level political contact with the country and promised to block any aid that could go to its military government or benefit its leaders. It also placed a travel ban on Myanmar’s new military rulers.
“We do not recognize the legitimacy of the military-led government and call on the military to immediately release all detained political leaders and restore civilian government,” Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said on Tuesday.
In Washington, Biden said his actions were aimed at freezing U.S. assets that benefit the Myanmar military leaders while maintaining support for health care programs, civil society groups and other areas. The US already has sanctions against some leaders in Myanmar over the killings and persecution of Rohingya minorities.
There has been no change so far in the level of US diplomatic representation in Myanmar, where Thomas Vajda continues as ambassador.
In Brussels, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said European foreign ministers would meet on February 22 to examine the 27-nation bloc’s relations with Myanmar and ways to increase economic pressure. The options may include sanctions imposed on individuals and businesses owned by the Myanmar army, as well as aid development.
Since 2014, the EU has granted Myanmar almost 700 million euros ($ 850 million). Borrell said the EU’s special system to give the least developed countries tax-free and quota-free access to all products except arms and ammunition could also be reconsidered.
“We must now develop a robust response to this unacceptable seizure of power, which overturns ten years of democratic transition,” he said, adding that the review would examine “how closely we work with the government and its institutions from a legal, financial and technical perspective, as well as the impact on beneficiaries. ”
The UN Human Rights Council, the 47-member body based in Geneva, scheduled a special session on Friday to consider the human rights implications of the Myanmar crisis.
Human rights advocates have urged governments to take stricter action while avoiding fines that would harm ordinary citizens of Myanmar.
“President Biden’s announcement of asset freezes and an executive order opening the door to further targeted sanctions against the Myanmar army are important and welcome steps,” said Daniel Sullivan, senior human rights lawyer for Refugees International, in said a statement.
“But the United States can and must do much more to censor the military’s serious behavior and recognize the real threat posed by the abuse of the army in Myanmar,” he said.
It is unclear whether Myanmar’s neighbors will come together to act sensibly.
The leaders of Malaysia and Indonesia have called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to convene a special meeting to discuss Myanmar, a member state. But ASEAN has long been working on a principle of non-interference in each other’s affairs and its decisions are taken by consensus, which means that it will take only one member, possibly Myanmar himself, to stop every move he considers hostile.
Following the coup, Brunei, the current ASEAN chairman, issued a statement calling for the “pursuit of dialogue, reconciliation and return to normalcy in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar.”
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a retired general who himself seized power in a military coup in 2014, told reporters on Wednesday he had received a letter from Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, in which he is asked for Thailand’s support for ‘democracy in Myanmar. The letter was not disclosed to the media.
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Associated Press authors Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul in Bangkok and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.