By Elishya Perera
NEW YORK (CU)_China blocked the United Nations Security Council from denouncing the military coup in Myanmar, as the Council met on Tuesday (Feb 2) to discuss a potential international response to the recent events in the Southeast Asian nation.
On Monday, Myanmar’s military seized power in a bloodless coup, arresting the country’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and several other government figures.
The crackdown is centred around November’s parliamentary election, in which the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) performed poorly. Therefore, the military has repeatedly disputed the election results, alleging, without evidence, that there have been more than 10 million cases of potential fraud.
Accordingly, the country’s army imposed a one-year state of emergency, claiming that they would hold a “free and fair” election after the election commission has been “re-constituted”, and will subsequently return power to the winning party.
Although the UN Security Council met on Tuesday, the members failed to agree on a joint statement criticising the coup, after China refused to support it.
Prior to the meeting the international community eagerly awaited to see how China and Russia, as permanent members of the Council, would act in the meeting on Tuesday, as these two world powers used their veto powers to shield Myanmar from significant action from the Council over the violent military operations in 2016 and 2017 which forced 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
Moreover, although several nations across the globe, including the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, have released statements denouncing the coup, China took a more neutral stance on the matter, declining to criticise the events and has instead called on all sides to “resolve differences”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China is “a friendly neighbour of Myanmar, and we hope that all parties in Myanmar will properly handle their differences under the constitutional and legal framework and maintain political and social stability.”
Experts say that China is attempting to imply its support by suggesting that the coup is Myanmar’s ‘internal issue’.
“Through this foreign policy equivalent of gaslighting, China seems to be signalling its tacit support, it not emphatic endorsement, for the generals’ actions,” Myanmar expert Dr Elliott Prasse-Freeman of the National University of Singapore told the BBC.
“China seems to be proceeding as if this is Myanmar’s ‘internal issue’ in which what we are observing is a ‘cabinet reshuffle,’ as China’s state media put it.”
Dr Prasse-Freeman believes that although a statement by the UN would not have made an immediate difference, it would still serve as “a first step for cohering an international response”.
Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner, became the first civilian leader in Myanmar in 2015, following 50 years of military governance in the country. Despite her efforts to embark on some democratic reforms in the country, Myanmar’s military was constantly in conflict with the quasi-civilian government, by having a quarter of seats in parliament allocated to the military, and retaining the control of key ministries such as defence and home affairs.
The Nobel laureate has not been seen since she was detained by the military on Monday morning, while the leaders of the coup have since formed a new supreme council that will be above the cabinet.
Several world leaders and diplomats have called for the release of those detained, with British PM Boris Johnson urging the military leaders in Myanmar to respect the vote of the people.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden threatened to impose new sanctions against Southeast Asian nations. He said the events were a “direct assault on the country’s transition to democracy and rule of law”, and will therefore necessitate “an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities”.
