SINGAPORE – Myanmar officials declared martial law in parts of Yangon after dozens of people were killed and fires destroyed several Chinese-owned clothing factories, underscoring the threat to the country’s fragile economy and tensions over China’s role in the country.
At least 37 people were killed on Sunday when authorities opened fire to disperse the protests in two industrial suburbs of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, emergency crews said. At least 15 other people have been killed elsewhere, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, a nonprofit organization that monitors arrests and deaths.
Sunday’s violence culminated in the deadliest weekend since Myanmar’s military took power on February 1, arresting civilian leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and abruptly ending the decade-long transition to democracy in the country. The factories caught fire in the suburbs of Yangon, Hlaing Tharyar and Shwe Pyithar, shaking one of the country’s most important export industries and attracting reprimand from China.
The Chinese Embassy in Yangon condemned the attacks as “especially vile” and asked the Myanmar authorities to stop the violence, punish the perpetrators and protect Chinese companies and employees in the country. The embassy said several Chinese-backed factories were destroyed and set on fire, while many Chinese were injured. Most of the companies affected were textile and clothing factories, he said.
“We ask the people of Myanmar to express their demands in a legal manner and to avoid being incited and exploited to undermine friendly cooperation between China and Myanmar,” the embassy said, adding that Chinese investment in the textile and clothing sector created nearly 400,000 jobs in Myanmar and some actions by citizens were hurting the economy.