News (1)
"Aung San Suu Kyi is in their hands" Myanmar launches a disobedience movement
Editor : Lu Yongxin / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2021/02/03/a103045903.html / Direct translation
Image : On February 3, 2021, medical staff of Yangon General Hospital tied red ribbons on their uniforms and gave three-finger salutes. After Aung San Suu Kyi was detained, medical staff joined the citizens to initiate a disobedience movement. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
The Myanmar military launched a lightning coup on the 1st and detained the literati leader Aung San Suu Kyi. On the 2nd, military generals seemed to have a firm control of the situation. A senior person said that Aung San Suu Kyi is currently in good health and has not been moved elsewhere. In addition, the "Myanmar Civil Disobedience Movement" posted on social media that 70 hospitals and medical staff in 30 cities and towns in Myanmar have gone on strike to protest the military's seizure of power.
On Tuesday, on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar's largest city and commercial capital, there were few signs of escalation of security. This shows the level of peace that the military has shown in not facing large-scale mass demonstrations; they have also been silent on the international condemnation.
A Myanmar taxi driver told AFP in the morning on the 2nd: “We want to stand up and express our dissatisfaction, but mother Suu (ie Aung San Suu Kyi) is in their hands. So there is not much we can do right now. We can only keep quiet."
However, the "Myanmar Civil Disobedience Movement" (Myanmar Civil Disobedience Movement) issued a statement on Facebook that 70 hospitals and medical staff in 30 towns and cities in Myanmar have gone on strike to protest the military's seizure of power.
This is one of the first signs of the people taking concrete actions against the coup.
The "Myanmar Civil Disobedience Movement" statement said in the face of the raging epidemic, the military that launched the coup put its own interests above the vulnerable ethnic groups. "We refuse to follow orders from illegal military regimes. They have no mercy on our poor patients."
In addition, The Yangon Youth Network, one of Myanmar's largest rights protection groups, also launched a civil disobedience movement. The tweet said: "Yangon Youth Connection... announced and urged to respond immediately with a civil disobedience movement." The tweet also pointed out that doctors in a hospital in Mandalay have already started such a movement.
News (2)
Burma's coup due to the constitution amendment?
https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2021/02/03/a103045941.html / Direct translation
After the military coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, the attention on the Internet has not diminished. At the same time, a video became popular on Twitter. The video shows a young Myanmar girl, possibly an aerobics instructor, doing aerobics teaching demonstration on the streets of Yangon and behind her, a small military convoy was heading for the Myanmar Parliament. Obviously, this girl did not realize that a major event that shocked the world was happening behind her.
This picture is very interesting, because this painting style is like the blockade of the city that most people imagine, the soldiers are carrying guns and live ammunition all over the main area, and there are patrol cars with tweeters everywhere, and the intense military coup is completely out of tune.
In fact, since the end of the Myanmar election, the opposition parties and the military have been mentioning election fraud. The Myanmar military once claimed that a total of 8.6 million votes were suspected of election fraud, and several times asked the Election Commission to publish the final electoral roster for the November general election, because only the electoral roster can be cross-checked for votes.
However, the Election Commission considered the move illegal and has consistently refused to provide a roster. On January 28, it again denied the military's allegations of fraud in the general election, saying that it found no evidence that could affect the credibility of the election.
To some extent, this may be the fuse for the military to launch a coup.
Whether there is fraud in the Myanmar general election, there is too little credible information, and it is difficult to draw conclusions rashly. However, judging from the information released by some Burmese people on Twitter, it seems that the general election in Burma has adopted manual vote counting. At the same time, the polling points are guarded by military and police. In this case, if you want to achieve a fraud of nearly 10 million votes, The difficulty is great. Of course, if my limited information here is wrong, please also leave a message to us with friends who know the relevant situation, and we will share the real information with friends after verification.
The latest development of the Myanmar coup is that the Myanmar military issued a statement on military radio last night announcing a large-scale reorganization of the Myanmar government. The ministers of 11 central government departments including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Border Affairs were replaced; 24 deputy ministers of 19 departments including the Ministry of Finance were also relieved of their posts. The military also appointed 11 new government officials after the coup.
The Myanmar government consists of a total of 24 ministries. The relocation involved most ministries, indicating that the military is undergoing a large-scale reorganization of the Myanmar government. This government is undoubtedly under the direct control of the military, but on the surface it does not appear as a military government. In addition to Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Min, it is said that other detained government officials have also been released, which shows that the military still has some scruples about the condemnation of the international community.
It is very complicated to trace the root cause of the coup in Myanmar. It involves not only the division of political power but also the internal ethnic conflicts and armed conflicts. According to my personal opinion, the main underlying reason is probably related to Aung San Suu Kyi's intention to significantly weaken the power of the military, and the most acute focus of contradiction is constitutional amendment.
Myanmar’s current constitution was formulated in 2008 under the auspices of the military government. In a nutshell, this constitution resolves the transitional work of the military government’s peaceful transfer of power and allows many “opposition parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD "Into the system rules.
But the most prominent feature of the 2008 Constitution is that the military occupies a dominant position in national politics. For example, the Constitution provides for independence and autonomy in military affairs; the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Border Affairs are nominated by the Commander-in-Chief of National Defense; one of the three presidential candidates is nominated by the National Defense Forces, and 25% of the military seats in the Federal Parliament are not elected, but directly by Nominated by the commander-in-chief of national defense; in the event of a state of emergency, the national defense forces can take over powers, etc.
In a word, this constitution destined that even if Myanmar is democratized, it can only be a strong military and weak government. Therefore, although Aung San Suu Kyi made amendments to the constitution as one of her campaign promises in the 2015 general election, she reached a tacit understanding with the military after she took office, avoiding direct confrontation with the military, and even because she did not oppose the military’s treatment of Rohingya. Human repression has been widely criticized, so the actual progress of the constitutional amendment work has been minimal.
But in 2019, the contradictions of constitutional amendment began to become prominent. On January 29 of that year, the Myanmar Union Parliament voted 394 to 17 to discuss a motion to amend the 2008 constitution. And this motion was put forward by the ruling Democratic League led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
This move is considered to be the biggest challenge to the military’s political power since the democratization of Myanmar. At that time, representatives of the military members stood up and remained silent for several minutes in protest.
Where is the biggest impact of the NLD’s constitutional amendment proposal on the military? There are mainly two aspects:
1. On July 30, 2019, the China Democratic League submitted a constitutional amendment report, the main content of which is to amend the rule that the military can obtain 25% of seats without election. NLD envisages reducing this ratio to 15% during 2021-2026, and to 5% in 2036.
This is not only the biggest piece of cheese for the military, it can even be said to drive the military out of the banquet of state power. Congressmen from the Gongfa Party, supported by the military, said on the same day that it is not the time for military congressmen to withdraw from politics.
2. Another key clause of the constitution amendment is that Myanmar’s current constitution stipulates that a spouse or child who is a foreign citizen cannot serve as the president of Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi's late husband and two sons are both British citizens, which prevents her from serving as president. In recent years, she has become the actual top leader of the Myanmar government as a state courier "higher than the president".
The NLD’s constitutional amendment proposal wants to abolish this clause and allow Aung San Suu Kyi to gain more power. This is also regarded as one of the red lines by the military. Because the principle that the military led the drafting of the 2008 constitution was to ensure the military's dominant position in Myanmar politics.
Although General Min Aung Lai, the commander-in-chief of the National Defense Forces, has publicly promised many times that as long as the country achieves national reconciliation, the military will withdraw from the political arena, but it is clear that the military does not currently believe that Aung San Suu Kyi has achieved the goal of national reconciliation .
Objectively speaking, after Aung San Suu Kyi came to power, perhaps because of lack of experience, it can be said to be lacklustre in Myanmar's internal affairs construction. Coupled with the constant promotion of a fierce political agenda for constitutional amendment, it is inevitable to leave people with the impression that "the ability to do business is limited and political seizure of power is very active."
Therefore, it can be said that the Burmese coup was actually frozen three feet in a day, and it was not caused by a single factor. The existence of more or less fraud in the general elections objectively gave the military an explanation.
News (3) 04/02/2021
Editor in charge: Gao Y / https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/2/1/n12726442.htm?utm_source=dable / Direct translation
Shen Zhou: The CCP puts Myanmar on the battlefield of the "new Cold War"
On February 1, the Myanmar military detained Aung San Suu Kyi, the newly elected President Win Myint and senior officials of the ruling party, declared a state of emergency, saying that the military controlled the country for one year. The United States, Western countries, the United Nations, and the European Union immediately condemned and urged the Myanmar military to release people immediately. The White House directly expressed its support for Myanmar's democratic institutions and urged the Myanmar military to observe democracy and the rule of law.
In contrast, the attitude of the CCP is completely different. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CCP only stated that he has noticed what happened in Myanmar and is further understanding the situation, "I hope all parties in Myanmar can "handle their differences properly." The CCP did not condemn the military coup in Myanmar, nor expressed its support for the democratically elected government of Myanmar, but hoped to "handle the differences", which is actually tantamount to supporting the military coup in disguise.
In the view of the CCP, Myanmar should be regarded as a backyard. Now that the backyard is on fire, the CCP’s attitude is completely different from that of other countries in the world, and it supports Myanmar's military dictatorship in disguise. This should teach the United States and Western countries another lesson. Some Western politicians say that they must confront and cooperate with the CCP, but the CCP is prepared to confront the West everywhere. The CCP has repeatedly shouted to the United States not to "new cold war," but the CCP has assumed a cold war stance, putting Myanmar on the battlefield of the "new cold war".
In order to force Biden to make concessions, Xi Jinping recently revealed a series of bargaining chips. Whether Myanmar was unwittingly obtained by the CCP or a new bargaining chip created by the CCP should soon be revealed.
The actual attitude of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China and the party media
At the press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China on February 1, in the face of questions from Bloomberg and U.S. News Agency, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wang Wenbin tried his best to avoid direct statements, saying only that “I hope all parties in Myanmar can “handle their differences properly”. There is no condemnation of the Myanmar military’s willingness to coup, nor a call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected government officials; he prevaricates that he is further understanding the situation.
News (4)
Does the CCP really do not understand the situation?
At 11:53 am on February 1, Xinhua News Agency issued the first report, "Detailed News: Myanmar President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained by the military", and a Xinhua News Agency reporter reported on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar. video. The report stated that “the military has control of the government and parliaments in many places in Myanmar. Large-scale communication interruptions have occurred in the capital Naypyidaw and other places”, and “the municipal building in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, has been controlled by the military”.
A reporter from Xinhua News Agency did not call the coup d’état. Instead, he described “the streets are calmer”, but also claimed that “some local people are discussing the seizure incident.” The reporter on the scene also admitted that his two phone cards were no longer available. This is obviously abnormal, but Xinhua News Agency tried to minimize the severity of the situation.
The Xinhua News Agency report also stated that "the Myanmar military and the NLD had differences over the outcome of the general election," and repeatedly quoted military television as saying that "the military believes that there is fraud in the general election." The CCP media undoubtedly recognized the power possessed by the Myanmar military. Neither the CCP media nor the CCP’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicly recognized and supported the democratically elected government of Myanmar. The CCP is not ignorant of the situation, but is very clear about the situation and its attitude.
At 13:09 on February 1, Xinhua News Agency issued a second report, "Exclusive Scene: Aung San Suu Kyi was detained, what happened in Myanmar? ". This report once again quoted a report from Myanmar's military TV station, saying that "The Presidential Palace announced the transfer of state power to the commander-in-chief of the National Defense Forces, Min Aung Lai." At the same time, it also stated that the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar "requests Chinese citizens to prepare for emergency and don't panic."
The Chinese Communist Party media has acted as a megaphone for the Burmese military. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs pretended not to understand the situation and at the same time told Chinese citizens "Don't panic." It can be seen that the CCP is very clear about what has happened, and it is very likely that it has reached a tacit understanding with the Myanmar military.
At 14:46 on February 1, Xinhua News Agency issued a third report, "The Myanmar military will re-elect after the state of emergency is declared." This report basically quoted Myanmar's military statement saying that “during the implementation of the national emergency, the Federal Election Commission will be reformed and the election process in November last year will be re-verified.”
This shows that the CCP basically recognizes that the Myanmar military is in power and continues to deny the president and government officials who have just been elected in democratic elections. On January 6, a violent incident occurred in the U.S. Congress. The Chinese Communist Party media trumpeted it and concluded that American democracy had fallen. This time the Myanmar coup, the Chinese Communist Party media tried to downplay it, not mentioning the democratic process in Myanmar at all.
At 15:15 on February 1, Xinhua News Agency released the fourth report, "A direct attack on the military-controlled Municipal Building in Yangon, Myanmar." In the video, seeing citizens gather on the street, the Xinhua News Agency reporter at the scene only repeated the content of Xinhua News Agency's third report, which is more like a statement for the Myanmar military than a live report.
News (5)
The relationship between the CCP and the Myanmar military
The Chinese Communist Party attaches great importance to the relationship with Myanmar. On January 17, 2020, Xi Jinping visited Myanmar and signed a series of cooperation projects under the name of "One Belt One Road". The real purpose of the CCP is to open a new channel connecting the Indian Ocean in Myanmar. Compared with economic cooperation, the military use is more obvious. But then, the Wuhan epidemic broke out and it was impossible to hide it, and the project signed by Xi Jinping came to a standstill. The CCP tried to hold down Myanmar to counter the US Indo-Pacific strategy, but the CCP fell into international isolation in 2020.
On January 11 and 12, Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China, just visited Myanmar and was eager to restore the Myanmar Strategic Channel Project. The people he met were very strange. According to information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China, on January 11, Wang Yi met with Myanmar President Win Myint, State Counselor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Aung San Suu Kyi, and Minister of State Affairs and Government Kyaw Ting Swee. The two parties exchanged courtesy and friendship and expressed further cooperation. .
On January 12, Wang Yi met separately with the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar National Defense Forces Min Aung Lai. Such diplomatic activities are obviously out of the ordinary. Wang Yi is not a member of the military, but he met with the head of the Burmese military, at least acknowledging that the Burmese military has real power, which is the same rank as the democratically elected president of Burma.
At that time, Wang Yi said, “The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor is a landmark project in the construction of a China-Myanmar community of shared future. After the establishment of the new Chimyan-Myanmar government, the corridor construction can be fully launched.” He also believed that the Myanmar Army would continue to provide support for this.
Sure enough, Min Aung Lai made a high-profile offer, saying that "Myanmar is very pleased to see China's increasing international status and influence", and rarely said that he "continues to support China's position on Taiwan-related, Hong Kong-related and Xinjiang-related issues."
Min Aung Lai expressed his overstatement and was completely different from the attitude of the democratically elected government. He was obviously seeking support from the Chinese Communist Party. He also stated that “The Myanmar Army supports both parties to overcome the impact of the epidemic and accelerate the construction of the Myanmar-China Economic Corridor” and is willing to “communicate with China. ", "The Myanmar Army is willing to continue to play an active role in this."
Min Aung Lai admitted that he had mastered the army, and clearly drew a line with the democratically elected government of Myanmar. Wang Yi asked him to express his support for the newly elected government, but Min Anglai did not buy it and did not have the will to support the new government at all, but said that he would directly cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party. The announcement of such content by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China is actually tacitly taciting the actual power of the Burmese military. Whether there are some conversations that cannot be published is not known.
On February 1, the Burmese military launched a coup and Min Anglai took power. The CCP was obviously not surprised. Min Aung Lai should have at least informed the CCP, or actually received the support of the CCP. The CCP media immediately spoke for the Myanmar military; on the contrary, the democratically elected president and officials of Myanmar failed to be recognized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CCP. .
From the perspective of the CCP, although the democratically elected government of Myanmar has also expressed cooperation with the CCP, it is also close to the West and will not fall to the CCP. The Burmese military government has expressed its strong desire to turn to the CCP, and it is very likely to be sanctioned by the West. The Burmese military government may only rely on the CCP. Myanmar’s strategic channels are more easily controlled by the CCP. As for what happens to the Burmese people, the CCP certainly cannot. concern.
News (6)
Myanmar's democratic process is once again blocked
Myanmar is the second largest country in Southeast Asia, bordering India and Bangladesh in the northwest, China in the northeast, Thailand and Laos in the southeast, the Andaman Sea in the south, and the Bay of Bengal in the southwest. It has an area of approximately 676,500 square kilometers and a population of approximately 55.67 million. It has a strategic position. important. The current capital of Myanmar is Naypyidaw. In 2005, the capital was Yangon, the largest city.
Myanmar is also an ancient country. In 1278, the Yuan Dynasty established the Central Province of Burma to manage the northeastern part of Myanmar, and then retreated and merged into the Central Province of Yunnan and other places. From 1824 to 1885, there were three wars between Britain and Burma. Britain controlled Burma and incorporated it into a province of British India. The Qing Dynasty was forced to admit it.
In 1937, Burma separated from British India and became the Burma headquarters of the British Empire. In 1941, China and Britain signed the Sino-British Joint Defense of the Yunnan-Burma Road Agreement. The National Government sent an expeditionary force to fight fiercely with the Japanese army and finally opened up the land supply line for American assistance. During this period, Aung San Suu Kyi's father Aung San has been working hard to get rid of British rule and seek independence, but he credulously believed in the lies of the Japanese army, helped the Japanese army attack the Chinese and British army, and was fooled into joining the Burmese Communist Party.
Aung San soon discovered that he had been deceived and had secretly organized the "Anti-Fascist People's Freedom Alliance" to fight against Japanese aggression and withdrew from the Communist Party. After the Japanese surrender, Aung San served as the prime minister of Myanmar and continued to fight for independence. In 1947, he was assassinated. In 1948, Myanmar became independent and became the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, but soon fell into the dictatorship of the military government. The name of the country was changed to "The Socialist Republic of the Union of Myanmar". The implementation of Burmese-style socialism naturally required the intervention of the former Soviet Union and the CCP.
In 1988, the democratic movement broke out in Myanmar. The military government brutally suppressed it. The United States and Western countries imposed sanctions on Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi, who had settled overseas, returned to China to visit her dying mother. Democrats in Myanmar recommended Aung San Suu Kyi to lead the democratic movement. In 1989, Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest. In 1990, the Burmese military government was under pressure and promised elections. While under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi still led the National League for Democracy to obtain nearly 80% of the seats in the National Assembly. However, the military government overturned the election results and declared the National League for Democracy illegal. Ji continued to be under house arrest until 1995. In 2000, Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest again and was released only in 2010. During the period, the military government changed a certain form and still continued the one-party dictatorship.
In 2007, an anti-junta demonstration broke out in Myanmar. About hundreds of thousands of people participated. The military government suppressed it again, but it was pressured to announce elections. In 2012, the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won an overwhelming victory in the parliamentary by-election and won widespread support from Western countries. In 2015, Myanmar held its first general election. The National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a big victory and officially ended the military government. Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed as the State Counsellor, and the CCP was forced to recognize it.
On November 9, 2020, in the new round of elections in Myanmar, the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi once again won a big victory, winning 396 of the 498 seats in the two houses of parliament. However, on February 1, the Burmese military launched a coup, and Aung San Suu Kyi and others were detained by the military.
When Xi Jinping spoke to the United States, he once said, “You can’t listen to whoever has a big fist”, but this is clearly the logic of the CCP. Now, facing the military coup in Myanmar, the CCP’s attitude is unobstructed.
Western countries recognize and support the democratically elected government of Myanmar and condemn the military coup in Myanmar, but the CCP does the opposite. The CCP has exposed its support for the dictatorship and is ready to confront the United States and the West. The CCP's actions are also turning Myanmar into the forefront of the "new Cold War." Sure enough, 2021 is not peaceful. Biden must be strategically tolerant. Faced with the CCP’s military provocations, the response is not tough enough, but the CCP can’t stand it anymore.
People can wait and see whether the backyard that the CCP believes suddenly caught fire or whether the CCP was playing with fire.
No comments:
Post a Comment