Military armored vehicles drive by on the streets of the Burmese city of Mandalay on Feb. 3.
Following the military coup in Burma, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on February 2 to discuss condemnation of the Burmese military, but was blocked by the Chinese Communist Party and the draft joint statement was not adopted.
On February 2, the UN Security Council held a webcam meeting to discuss a joint statement drafted by the United Kingdom condemning the coup in Burma.
According to the Free Times, the draft statement was expected to condemn the coup by the Burmese military, call on the military to respect the rule of law and human rights, immediately release those illegally detained, end military rule in Burma, and demand that all parties “abide by democratic norms. There is no mention of sanctions against the Burmese military in the draft’s text.
A diplomatic official said that during more than two hours of discussion, the Chinese Communist Party and Russia blocked the Security Council from condemning Burma, claiming to have asked for more Time to review it. Ultimately, the joint statement failed to gain the support of all 15 members of the council and was shelved.
According to another diplomat, the joint statement is still under discussion.
Following the coup in Burma, U.N. Special Envoy to Burma Christine Schraner Burgener harshly condemned the Burmese military and urged the U.N. Security Council to take a swift stand in support of democracy in Burma.
Burgener said the Security Council is now more important than ever.
However, the Security Council has come under fire from human rights groups for failing to act quickly on the situation in Burma amid obstruction by the Chinese Communist Party and Russia.
Louis Charbonneau, UN director of Human Rights Watch, said the council’s move was tantamount to showing the Burmese military that they can do what they want with impunity.
Charbonneau called on the Security Council to take an immediate stand and impose sanctions on Burma’s military chiefs.
Sherine Tadros, deputy director of the Amnesty International initiative, called on the Security Council to freeze the assets of military leaders such as Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing.
Tadros also said the Security Council must impose a full arms embargo on Burma and refer Burma’s current situation to the International Criminal Court.
In the early hours of Feb. 1, the Burmese military staged a military coup, citing fraud in last November’s general election. The military detained a number of top government officials, including Senior State Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and military leader Min Aung Hlaing took over power and announced a year of military rule in Myanmar.
The coup in Myanmar has sparked global public opinion, with countries condemning the Burmese military and calling for the release of those arrested. Japanese media and Reuters reported on February 2 that Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint are currently under house arrest in their homes, while more than 400 members of Myanmar’s parliament are under house arrest in a government housing compound in the capital Naypyidaw.
The Biden administration officially confirmed the incident in Burma as a military coup and will impose sanctions on the Burmese government. The Chinese Communist Party, in contrast to Western countries, neither condemned the Burmese military nor proposed the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, but instead asked for international intervention that would contribute to Burma’s political stability and reconciliation.
On the eve of the coup in Myanmar, Chinese Communist Party Foreign Minister Wang Yi went to Myanmar to meet with military chief Min Aung Hlaing and called him a brother.
Hart, the foreign policy spokesman for the German CDU and CSU parties in the Bundestag, told Deutsche Welle that the Chinese Communist Party may have encouraged the Burmese military to stage the coup and called on the EU to investigate the coup.
Independent columnist and current affairs commentator Gorbidon said that in his view, the coup in Burma was “a Chinese Communist stunt” from start to finish.
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