Beijing – The military takeover in Myanmar and the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi was described as a coup by the Biden government. The characterization that State Department officials made in a call with reporters Tuesday caused a freeze on certain U.S. aid to the country and a review of other aid programs, but Christina Ruffini, a correspondent for CBS News, said the officials have made it clear that the government will continue to help the people of Myanmar and strengthen efforts to promote democracy in the country.
“We have expressed serious concern about the detention of civilian government leaders of the Burmese army,” a Foreign Ministry official said at the call. “After a careful review of the facts and circumstances, we gained access to the ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma’s ruling party, and Win Mynt, the properly elected head of government, in a military coup on February 1. . “
The Biden government on Tuesday upheld their position hours after Chinese state media downplayed the takeover as a major cabinet shuffle, deploying euphemisms not to call it a coup. Democratic leaders around the world have rejected the Burmese army, and Mr. Biden has already made it clear that the US is ‘taking note’ of who is standing up for Myanmar’s people.
In this soft-soft approach, Beijing called on all parties in Myanmar to ‘resolve their differences’, and the official Xinhua news agency described the military replacement of elected ministers after the coup on Monday as a’ great cabinet shuffle ‘.
The nationalist Global Times, meanwhile, quoted unnamed experts as saying the generals’ grip on power could be seen as an adjustment to the country’s dysfunctional power structure. ‘The statement almost reflects remarks later posted online by Myanmar’s military rulers, who described their takeover as’ inevitable’.
Thein Zaw / AP
The newspaper, which was known for its fiery comments against China’s critics, also took the opportunity to record a pop with former US President Donald Trump, whose belligerent approach to Beijing the ties between America and China to the lowest in decades.
‘Some experts have mentioned that … Trump, who refused to acknowledge his defeat in the election and allegedly incited the riots of the Capitol, could be Myanmar. military inspiration, “it wrote.
During Tuesday’s call, CBS News asked whether US officials, given the claims of the army in Myanmar, acted in response to election fraud, believed that the Burmese leaders may have been encouraged by the false allegations of fraud in the US election. . The officials did not comment.
Beijing has long denied what it sees as interference in its “internal affairs”, such as criticism of its human rights record – and takes a similarly neutral stance on most foreign affairs.
Myanmar is also an important part of Beijing’s major initiative for belt and road infrastructure. President Xi Jinping visited the country last January and promised to support the Myanmar government on a development path “suitable for its own national circumstances.”
China, the UN, and leverage
European officials, on the other hand, were quick to condemn the takeover and on Monday unequivocally described it as a coup. Many others, including President Biden in the United States and the head of the United Nations, downplayed the military’s actions and called for immediate restoration of democracy in Myanmar, but did not immediately use the word coup d’etat.
The United Nations Security Council will discuss the matter later Tuesday, but the Biden government did not wait for the meeting to clarify its position on military action. However, it will still hope to garner support for a coordinated international response.
Myanmar’s army has justified its grip on power by claiming that widespread fraud in the elections that took place three months ago won the NLD a landslide. It has declared a state of emergency for one year, after which it says it will hold new elections.
So far, China, and to a lesser extent Russia, have been the only nations willing to defend the military’s actions in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and still so named by the US government.
AP
Russia has used extremely soft rhetoric in describing the takeover of the military, suggesting that it was merely an internal disagreement over ‘differences that arose after the outcome of the parliamentary elections’.
“We hope for a peaceful solution to the situation in line with current legislation through the resumption of political dialogue,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday, noting that it “paid attention to the statement”. of the military authorities about their intention to hold new parliamentary elections in a year. ‘
Most importantly, China and Russia, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, have a right of veto over any resolutions proposed within the body, thus undermining the efforts led by other countries to impose multilateral sanctions on the military administration in Myanmar. set, can crossbar. formally label it a coup.
The UK holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for February and sets the agenda and chooses to keep the Tuesday meeting closed in the so-called ‘consultations’, reports Pamela Falk, CBS News, with an information session by Christine Schraner Burgener, special envoy Myanmar, which was already ‘actively involved’ on the ground, the UK said.
By keeping the meeting closed, any tense exchange could be mitigated and could lead to a declaration by the Council of 15 countries, which, even if not enforceable, would send a message to the military rulers of Myanmar.
“We will look at different measures,” British Ambassador Barbara Woodward told Falk on Monday during a press conference. The British envoy, who will chair Tuesday’s meeting, served as the British ambassador to China from 2015 to 2020 and has significant expertise across the country as world leaders try to shape the next steps in their response, possibly asking for the release of Suu. Kyi and other political leaders.
The US can also act unilaterally, and the Biden government has promised to ‘take action against those responsible’ if the Burmese army fails to ‘stop this action immediately’.
But as Asian analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington wrote in a Monday note on Myanmar, the U.S. government’s leverage over the new military leadership is limited by Washington’s relatively small investment footprint in the country.
“Despite a decade of opening up, US businesses remain relatively modest players in the Myanmar economy,” CSIS analysts said. “Those who have invested are primarily aimed at delivering goods and services to the domestic market in Myanmar, which means that their departure will mostly harm private citizens. US companies have stayed away from the natural resource mining and exporting sector. of goods in which the army is heavy. “invest.”
According to analysts, the effectiveness of any sanctions imposed by Washington will depend on support from other Asian countries, which have closer ties with Myanmar. However, it can be difficult to support – even from close allies -.
“It will be more difficult for the United States to attract large investors in Myanmar, such as Japan and Singapore. And the largest foreign player in Myanmar’s economy, China, will all too much like to recalibrate its commitment to the new facts on the ground. “This is likely to mitigate the impact of any US sanctions,” the CSIS said.