On February 1, 2021, a military coup took place in Myanmar. A number of top officials, including Senior State Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, were detained by the military. In this photo, supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi demonstrate outside the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok.
A military coup has taken place in Myanmar. Senior State Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained by the military on Monday (1). The military declared a year-long state of emergency throughout the country. In the capital Nay Pyi Taw and the main city of Yangon, large numbers of soldiers were stationed in government buildings. Banks across the country suspended services. Some analysts estimate that Myanmar’s return to authoritarian rule could mean a reversal of the Belt and Road agreement with Beijing.
Myanmar’s first session of the new parliament was scheduled for Monday in a political sea change. A number of Myanmar’s parliamentarians and local officials were arrested at the doorstep of the military in the morning. The ruling party, the National League for Democracy, said that senior state minister Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior officials were detained by the military early in the morning, and Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest.
The government’s military coup in Burma is worrying foreign investors to return to the lockdown era
A staff member of the Myanmar Chinese Chamber of Commerce said the state-run television station announced on social networking sites that it was unable to broadcast due to a technical glitch, and that there was no signal at all when the television was turned on, affecting telephone services and internet services in the capital Nay Pyi Taw and the major city of Yangon.
SCCCI staff: “At the moment, we can’t get through on any phone. Cell phones and telephones are completely out of service, and TVs are also out of service, and we see this situation when we get up in the morning.”
On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military coup d’état saw the military declare a one-year takeover of the country and a state of emergency.
The military said the action was in response to serious fraud in last November’s general election and declared that a one-year state of emergency was in effect under the constitution. Military television reported that the presidency handed over state power to Defense Force Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing.
No major marches and riots broke out in major cities Monday
Tu Guoding, president of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, who is in Yangon, told the station that a large number of soldiers were deployed outside the local city hall office. Although the National League for Democracy called on people to protest in the streets, no riots broke out in Yangon for the Time being. National banks suspended their services on Monday. Long queues outside some bank teller machines in Yangon.
Tu Guoding: “The city hall building is now taken over by the military. There are no big marches or riots on the streets. The banks have come out with a notice that it is not convenient to withdraw and remit money due to network problems, and the banks are closed, and when they will reopen depends on the central bank’s instructions.”
The National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won 83 percent of the parliamentary seats in the general election and has enough seats to form a government. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won only 83 of the 476 seats up for re-election. The military held a press conference last week and accused the election of serious fraud, but did not present evidence.
The situation in Myanmar has attracted international attention, with the White House issuing a statement demanding that the military immediately release those arrested, opposing any attempt to overturn the election results or undermine Myanmar’s transition to democracy, and warning that the U.S. will take action against those responsible if Myanmar authorities do not reverse their practices.
Foreign businessmen fear catastrophic consequences of sanctions imposed by Europe and the United States
Mr. Lee, a Hong Kong businessman who runs a garment factory in Yangon, said the Myanmar government’s earlier mishandling of the Rohingya incident has caused discontent in the West. He fears that the military coup will trigger a new round of sanctions, resulting in catastrophic consequences.
Mr. Lee: “After the Rohingya incident, the European Union said it would sanction Myanmar, and the U.S. government also sent a negative signal. Many Americans are not going to invest in Myanmar. Once the West takes sanctions again because of Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest, it will inevitably result in a ‘disaster ending’ where many factories will close down and many workers will lose their jobs.”
Lee Ming Kong, an associate professor at the School of International Relations at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, interpreted the military’s action on Monday as a coup d’etat.
Li Mingjiang: “It was preceded by this military action where there was a clearly democratically elected government in place. The military has completely overthrown the democratically elected government in this operation, which is a military coup from this point of view. The Democratic Alliance has been in power for the past few years and the economy was doing quite well, and now there is a relatively big mess, and the future socio-economic development is now a big question mark.”
International concern over CCP’s stance on coup
In Beijing, Chinese Communist Party Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday he was learning more about the situation. He said China is a friendly neighbor of Myanmar and hopes all parties in Myanmar will properly handle differences under the constitutional and legal framework and maintain political and social stability.
On Feb. 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military took over some government buildings and manned the main streets in the capital.
According to Li Mingjiang, the unstable situation in Myanmar makes it difficult for the Chinese Communist Party to formulate a long-term strategy toward the country.
Li Mingjiang: “The Chinese side will probably maintain the relatively detached and balanced policy that Myanmar has had for the past few years, almost a decade into its democratic transition. The political direction of Burma in the next few years is really confusing. There’s no telling which day the NLD might come back or some kind of political alliance or political compromise.”
Burma is an important country in the Communist Party’s Belt and Road strategy to assist the Communist Party in expanding its influence in the Indian Ocean.
Chong Ka Ying, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the National University of Singapore, said the military takeover of power in Burma is feared to push back previous related agreements with the Chinese Communist Party.
A new regime will have to negotiate with different localities on how to get some of them to accept its jurisdiction. China, including the Belt and Road, has brought in different interests, resources and costs, and who will bear them? I think it will take some time for the process of consolidation. This will have a more critical impact on the continued development of Belt and Road in Myanmar.”
Beijing’s most significant investment in Myanmar is the $1.3 billion deep-water port and industrial zone in western Rakhine State. Despite the ongoing violence within Rakhine State, Burmese authorities have set it up as an open economic zone. While Western investors have refused to come, the Chinese Communist Party strongly supports the development plan.
At the same time, however, China and Myanmar continue to be at odds, with frequent inter-communal clashes along their borders and Chinese companies building reservoirs and oil pipelines in the country, which has provoked strong local resentment and accusations that China is damaging Myanmar’s natural environment.
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