On February 1, 2021, the Burmese military staged another coup, arresting top NLD and Burma’s current government officials, including Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar’s military launched a coup on Monday (Feb. 1), arresting a number of top government officials from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, including Senior Minister of State Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. The political turmoil in Myanmar has added to the plight of nearly 100,000 Chinese businessmen and Chinese workers trapped in the country by the Epidemic. Since the military coup took place in the early morning, the Chinese Communist Party has not provided any contingency plan for the Chinese community there. Earlier in the day, the Communist Party even restricted the return of Chinese nationals to their homes for the New Year in the name of epidemic prevention.
Mr. Chen, a media personality living in Yangon, told the station that after the coup by the Burmese military on Monday morning, local communications were once cut off, and a rush to buy was soon followed by a crush at bank ATMs, but soon all banks were closed and self-service teller machines were also shut down.
Mr. Chen revealed that the military government is still arresting people, but the people in Yangon city are still in a wait-and-see situation. The atmosphere on the streets is tense, but there is no large-scale unrest yet, but the mall only accepts cash.
Mr. Chen said: close ah, all. I ran a very remote kind of ATM today to go there, directly is closed. Including now this supermarket, before you can swipe the card, now only cash. We just bought something back, buy a lot of people, do not rule out the next, if there is turmoil, then it is not easy to say.
The president of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar, Tu Guoding, pointed out that communication has been restored and everyone is waiting to see how events will unfold. And according to the Chinese Communist Embassy in Burma, the Burmese military may soon announce the new heads of the provinces. He worries that Europe and the United States will take sanctions against Burma, and that Chinese-owned factories may be affected by that Time.
Mr. Tu said: Just now when I got up in the morning, the phones were not working, and the Internet was masked off. Just now it seems that some cell phones have regained their signal and resumed communication. Just restored. I asked the embassy, a few of us were talking, now not every governor well basically arrested, said it should be tomorrow, the Burmese military will appoint the governor. We have a lot of businesses in Zhejiang, including garments and footwear, which are mainly exported, so if the military government comes to power and Western countries impose sanctions, it may have a big impact on our businesses.
Mr. Tu also pointed out that the Myanmar Civil Aviation Authority had notified the local airport by noon Monday that it would be closed until the end of May. He said that the Chinese side had previously announced that during the Chinese New Year period, Air China, China Southern and China Eastern’s Myanmar routes would be suspended until around Feb. 20, and that after the coup, Myanmar Airways, which is the only airline that flies to China and has only one flight a week, had also been suspended immediately. All Chinese in Myanmar are currently unable to return to their Home countries in the near future. He said there are currently tens of thousands of Chinese people in Yangon.
Mr. Tu said: “I am in Yangon. In Myanmar, we just counted a few days ago, there are tens of thousands of (Chinese) people, right? Originally there were routes, because of the epidemic problem, the Chinese New Year flights were stopped, to about 20 to resume.
According to the local Chinese media in Myanmar, the Chinese Embassy was contacted after the coup, but was told that there was no plan to evacuate the Chinese. There is no hope for the Chinese to go home for the Chinese New Year.
Our correspondent called the Chinese embassy in Myanmar on the matter, but no one answered the phone at several departments.
In response to our inquiry, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they have not received any notification of evacuation either. Chinese people in Myanmar can only pay attention to the embassy’s official website for now.
Foreign Ministry: You said the situation in Myanmar, right? It may be that the local network is in this situation, so wait a little bit, wait for it to restore that communication. We have not received any notification so far, so you can only read the information on the embassy and consulate websites to see if there are any corresponding arrangements.
The international community has expressed concern about the situation in Myanmar, with UN Secretary-General Guterres and British Prime Minister Johnson both condemning the actions of the Burmese military and urging it to respect the will of the people. The U.S. White House, for its part, has said it will take action to hold those involved accountable if the current situation is not reversed.
China, on the other hand, expressed its hope that all parties in Myanmar will properly handle their differences under the constitutional and legal framework and maintain political and social stability.
Since the new crown epidemic (a Chinese Communist virus) spread worldwide early last year, Chinese Communist Party officials have taken drastic measures to restrict the return of overseas citizens to their home countries to intercept imported cases. Previously, Chinese businessmen have been killed in attacks in Myanmar as a result of increased China-hating sentiment due to the epidemic. With the recent resurgence of the epidemic in China, officials have stepped up restrictions to stop the widespread movement of people in the Spring Festival, and the situation of Chinese people stranded in Myanmar after the coup has become more of a concern.
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