Beijing – THE military acquisition in Myanmar and Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrest was labeled a coup by the Biden government. The characterization by State Department officials in a liaison with reporters on Tuesday triggered a freeze on US assistance to the country and a review of other aid programs, but CBS News correspondent Christina Ruffini said officials they made it clear that the government would continue to help the people of Myanmar and increase efforts to promote democracy in the country.
“We express great concern about the arrest of civilian government leaders by the Burmese military,” said a State Department official on the call. “After a careful review of the facts and circumstances, we access that Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the ruling party in Burma, and Win Mynt, the duly elected head of government, were deposed in a military coup on February 1.”
The Biden government perfected its position on Tuesday after Chinese state media considered the takeover as “a major cabinet overhaul”, launching euphemisms to avoid calling it a coup. Democratic leaders from around the world attacked the Burmese military and Biden had already made it clear that the United States was “taking note” of who was defending the people of Myanmar.
In its smooth approach, Beijing called on all parties in Myanmar to “resolve their differences”, and the official Xinhua news agency on Monday described the military that replaced the elected ministers after the coup as a “major cabinet reshuffle”.
Meanwhile, the nationalist Global Times quoted unidentified experts as saying that the generals’ takeover could be seen as “an adjustment to the country’s dysfunctional power structure”. The statement almost echoed comments posted online later by Myanmar’s military rulers, who described its take as “inevitable”.
Thein Zaw / AP
The newspaper – known for its fiery comments against China’s critics – also took the opportunity to criticize former U.S. President Donald Trump, whose combative approach to Beijing had lessened US-China ties to the worst in decades.
“Some experts mentioned that … Trump, who refused to admit his defeat in the elections and allegedly incited the Capitol riots, may be Myanmar military inspiration, “wrote.
CBS News asked on Tuesday’s conference call whether, given the Myanmar military’s claims to have acted in response to electoral fraud, American officials believe that Burmese commanders may have been encouraged by the false allegations of fraud in the American elections. The officials did not comment.
Beijing has long rejected what it sees as interference in its “internal affairs” – such as criticism of its human rights record – and has taken a similar neutral stance on most foreign affairs.
Myanmar is also a vital part of Beijing’s massive road and belt infrastructure initiative. President Xi Jinping visited the country last January and promised to support the government of Myanmar on a development path “suited to its own national conditions”.
China, UN and leverage
European authorities, on the other hand, were quick to condemn the acquisition, clearly labeling it a coup on Monday. Many others, including President Biden in the United States and the head of the United Nations, criticized military actions and called for an immediate restoration of democracy in Myanmar, but did not immediately use the word coup on Monday.
The United Nations Security Council was set to address the issue on Tuesday, but the Biden government did not wait for this meeting to make its position on the actions of the military clear. However, it will still hope to gather support for a coordinated international response.
The Myanmar military justified its takeover by alleging widespread fraud in the elections held three months ago, in which the NLD won overwhelmingly. It imposed a state of emergency for a year, after which it says it will hold new elections.
So far, China, and to a slightly lesser extent Russia, have been the only nations willing to defend military actions in Myanmar, which was formerly known as Burma and is still called that by the US government.
AP
Russia used an extremely mild rhetoric when describing the military’s seizure of power, suggesting that it was just an internal disagreement about “differences that arose after the results of the parliamentary elections”.
“We hope for a peaceful solution to the situation according to current legislation through the resumption of political dialogue,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday, incisively adding that it “paid attention to the statement. from military officials about their intention to hold new parliamentary elections in a year. “
Crucially, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, both China and Russia have veto power over any proposed resolutions within that body, so that they could thwart efforts led by other countries to impose multilateral sanctions on the military regime in Myanmar – or even to formally label their coup actions.
The United Kingdom holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of February and therefore directs the agenda, and has chosen to keep Tuesday’s meeting closed in what is known as “consultations”, reports Pamela Falk of CBS News, with a briefing by Christine Schraner Burgener, a special envoy in Myanmar, who is already “actively engaged” on the ground, the United Kingdom said.
Keeping the meeting closed could ease any exchange of tensions and lead to a declaration by the 15-nation Council, which, even if it is not enforceable, would send a message to Myanmar’s military rulers.
“We will examine any range of measures,” UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward told Falk during a press interview on Monday. The British envoy, who will head Tuesday’s meeting, served as the UK’s ambassador to China from 2015 to 2020 and has significant experience in dealing with the country, while world leaders try to shape the next steps in their response and possibly , call for the release of Suu Kyi and other political leaders.
The United States can also act unilaterally, and the Biden government has promised to “take action against those responsible” if the Burmese military fails to “reverse these actions immediately”.
But, as Asia analysts at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a note on Monday about Myanmar, the US government’s influence on the new military leadership is limited by Washington’s relatively small investment footprint in parents.
“Despite a decade of openness, US companies continue to be relatively modest players in Myanmar’s economy,” said CSIS analysts. “Those who invested are mainly focused on providing goods and services to the domestic market in Myanmar, which means that their exit will mainly harm private citizens. US companies have stayed away from natural resource extraction and commodity export sectors, in which the military is heavily invested. “
Analysts said the effectiveness of any punitive measures imposed by Washington will depend on the support of other Asian nations, which have closer commercial ties with Myanmar. This support, however – even from close allies – can be difficult to solidify.
“It will be more difficult for the United States to get big investors in Myanmar, like Japan and Singapore, to follow suit. And the biggest foreign player in Myanmar’s economy, China, will be very happy to recalibrate its commitment to recognize the new facts in the ground, “said CSIS. “This is likely to ease the blow to any American sanctions.”