A car leaves the Home of detained State Senior Minister Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, Myanmar, Feb. 2.
At 6 p.m. on Feb. 2, 36 hours had passed since the military declared a state of emergency at 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 1 via television.
During these 36 hours, people living in Myanmar have experienced a special Time. Hu Xingcun, who does business in Myanmar, Ms. Ni, who works as a translator, and Minmin He, a restaurant owner, were interviewed by reporters and described to them how their lives have changed in the past two days because of this state of emergency.
A lot of people appeared to protest
At 3 a.m. Myanmar time on Feb. 1 (4:30 a.m. Beijing time on Feb. 1), Hu Xingcun, who runs a seafood business in Mandalay (commonly known as Wa), woke up, looked at his cell phone and found no signal. He thought it was strange and went back to sleep. Hu Xingcun, a native of Ningde, Fujian province, is an old Chinese who has come to Myanmar for many years, doing business in Mandalay’s Chinatown vegetable street during the day and living in the surrounding countryside at night.
At 9 a.m., Hu Xingcun woke up and cell phone communication had not been restored. He had heard from a friend about the Burmese military takeover of power. The friend had returned to the countryside from a medical appointment in the city and brought the news. It turned out that before 5:30 a.m. on the 1st, the military had declared a one-year state of emergency via television, and all international flights to Yangon and other places were canceled from 5:30 a.m. onwards.
At 10:00 a.m., Hu Xingcun set off from his home in the countryside to his store in the city. His Family‘s store is taken care of by employees, so he doesn’t have to get up too early every day, driving there at almost 10 a.m. and arriving at the store in half an hour. Communication had not yet been restored, so Hu Xingcun sat with his friends and “chatted” about the current situation.
At almost 12:00 (1:30 p.m. Beijing time), the cell phone signal was finally restored. 1 noon and afternoon, Hu Xingcun thought, and the usual time. The downtown area of Mandalay was relatively calm. It is not the same as Yangon, where there are a large number of businesses, which may have been affected a bit more. According to the military’s order, cross-city traffic is not allowed between different cities, and Hu Xingcun saw that many vehicles are not allowed to leave the city. However, Hu Xingcun had some friends who returned to Mandalay from Yangon later in the day.
At 5:22 p.m. (6:52 p.m. Beijing time), Hu Xingcun saw an emergency notice issued by the Chinese Consulate General in Mandalay, reminding Chinese citizens in northern Myanmar to take safety precautions. He forwarded it to his circle of friends. After the Epidemic came, Hu Xingcun’s seafood store did not send employees to deliver, but to find couriers to help deliver. 1 day, he closed at 7 p.m. more. The first day, he closed at 7 p.m. “I heard that there is a curfew at 8 p.m. This time it is stricter than during the epidemic.” Subsequently, Hu Xingcun drove back to the countryside, watching TV, and resting around 11 p.m. on the 1st.
On the morning of the 2nd, Hu Xingcun still got up at 9 o’clock and drove to the city store at 10 o’clock. That day, he felt that the traffic control was slightly relaxed. “Some of my goods were not sent out yesterday, and today they were sent out.” That day, Hu Xingcun saw a lot of people protesting in the streets of Mandalay. There were also many soldiers patrolling, from morning to night.
The time of noon did not change much from usual, the difference was that the closing time in the afternoon was earlier than the previous day. “I went back to the countryside after 5 p.m.. There were also a few Chinese friends who had nothing to do during this time and came to the countryside to play.” At 6 p.m. on the evening of the 2nd (7:30 p.m. Beijing time), Hu Xingcun told reporters that the restaurant industry is now doing bad business itself because of the epidemic, and caught up with this incident. Next, he will wait and see how the situation develops. By this time, 36 hours had passed since the military declared a state of emergency at 5:30 a.m. on the 1st via TV.
Wacheng people have bought rice to keep on hand
“I learned the news (of the Burmese military taking over power) yesterday (1) morning after 7 a.m.” Ms. Ni, who lives in the northern Burmese city of La Hue, told reporters. She is of Chinese descent, originally from Gengma, Yunnan province, and now works as a translator in Myanmar.
At around 1 p.m. local time on the 1st, Ms. Ni went out to buy New Year’s goods. “The Chinese diaspora in Myanmar is also going to celebrate the Chinese New Year, thinking that it is almost New Year to buy some cleaning tools, and then I saw the army patrolling. There were a lot of military vehicles and soldiers on the streets.” Ms. Ni said. After buying something, Ms. Ni went home.
On the evening of the 1st, she received a message from a friend: “MWD (military TV) reports that a curfew will be in effect from 8 p.m. tonight (1st), so don’t go out if you have nothing to do. The military has ordered that people who do not comply or cooperate with the decree can be shot directly.” Although she didn’t know if the news was true or not, Ms. Ni decided not to go out that day.
Usually, Ms. Ni went to bed at 10 p.m. On the night of the 1st, because she was concerned about the situation in Burma, she watched a lot of TV programs and did not rest until around 0 a.m. on the 2nd. On the morning of the 2nd, Ms. Ni told her Chinese friends that she heard that Wacheng (Mandalay) had started to close the roads that day and that people in Wacheng had gone to buy rice and other items to prepare. She also planned to go out and stock up on rice and other items. At noon, Ms. Ni went to a friend’s house to celebrate her 28th birthday, and she went home after 5 p.m. Ms. Ni said, “We chose to get together at noon because we couldn’t go out at night because of the curfew.”
Not a single customer came in the store
Minmin He, 34, a Burmese Chinese of Yunnan origin, runs a restaurant in the capital Nay Pyi Taw. Her store is not very far from the Myanmar presidential palace, about 15 minutes’ drive.
He Minmin’s restaurant is usually open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. At 9 a.m. on Feb. 1, He Minmin saw the news of the Burmese military takeover on Facebook media news. He Min Min lamented, “There was less business that day, more than half of the cars on the road, and suddenly it was much quieter.”
Usually, when they hear about the state of emergency, the first reaction of the Chinese in Myanmar is to go to the bank to withdraw money and buy some oil, salt and rice for their homes, and on the first day, many people went out to the streets to buy many necessities, but Minmin He did not follow the crowd. She closed the store around 8 p.m., two hours earlier than before. “I heard that you are not allowed to go out after 8 p.m. I did not see an official curfew.” He Minmin said.
At 1:30 p.m. local time on Feb. 2 (3 p.m. Beijing time on Feb. 2), He Minmin told reporters that not a single customer had come into the store since it opened in the morning.
On Feb. 1, the Burmese military detained Senior State Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and some senior NLD officials. As things progressed, within 36 hours, the Burmese military issued a televised statement announcing a massive reshuffle of the current Burmese government. The military released one by one the local leaders and lawmakers from the provincial states it detained on February 2, but President Win Myint and Senior State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi will continue to be detained.
Massive reshuffle of current government on Feb. 1
According to U Mya Nyunt, spokesman for Myanmar’s ruling NLD party, President Win Myint, Senior State Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, chief ministers of Irrawaddy and Shan states, Kayah State Party Chairman, some important constituency lawmakers and some political militants were detained by the military in the early hours of Feb. 1, local time. The military has taken control of the government and parliament in many parts of Burma. There were widespread communication disruptions in the capital Naypyidaw and other places.
Myanmar’s military television later released a news release saying that the presidency had declared a one-year state of emergency in accordance with constitutional provisions. The presidency has announced the transfer of state power to Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the National Defense Force. The military believes there was fraud in last year’s general election.
Both international and domestic entrances and exits to Yangon were closed at 5:30 a.m. local time on February 1 and all flights were canceled due to the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency by the Myanmar military.
Both trading on the floor of the stock exchange and telephone commission trading were suspended due to communication disruptions, and the Myanmar Banking Association announced the suspension of domestic banks. Supporters of different political parties were active in the streets in many places, including Yangon, where clashes broke out between some people and police. A number of journalists were injured in the process of reporting.
At 12:00 noon local time (1:30 p.m. Beijing time on Feb. 1), local communications in Myanmar, which had previously been disrupted, began to resume. Two Myanmar cell phone operators, MPT and MYTEL, were fully restored to normal nationwide at 12:00 p.m. People could make calls and use 4G Internet access normally. Services of two other cell phone operators are also in the process of being restored.
The Myanmar military issued a televised statement saying that after the end of the state of emergency, general elections will be held again and state power will be handed over to newly elected political parties. The military said it would reform the Union Election Commission during the state of emergency and recheck the process of last November’s election, while continuing to take measures to deal with the new epidemic and promote economic recovery.
In the afternoon, Myanmar’s Minister of health and Sports U Myint Thwe announced his resignation and Myanmar’s Minister of General Affairs U Myint Do announced his resignation. The Myanmar Banks Association announced that all domestic banks will resume normal business from February 2 after an emergency meeting of the executive committee.
In the evening, the Burmese military announced in a televised statement a major reshuffle of the current Burmese government. The statement said the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, border affairs, planning, finance and industry, investment and foreign economic relations, international cooperation and 11 other central government departments were replaced. Twenty-four deputy ministers of 19 central government ministries, including the Ministry of State Capital and Government, the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry, and the Ministry of Commerce, were relieved of their duties.
Some of the detained officials have returned home on February 2
In the morning, Dr. Than Myint Soe, spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Sports, told the media that the ministry will continue to promote the vaccination program despite the current political turmoil in Myanmar.
The NLD executive committee issued a statement saying that the military takeover of power is against the constitution and disregards the rights of the people, seriously affecting Myanmar’s national transformation, the fight against the epidemic and peaceful development. At the same time, the NLD put forward three demands: the release of the president, senior state officials and all detainees; the endorsement of the 2020 election results; and the convening of the parliament in accordance with the constitution to maintain national stability and democratic development.
A senior officer of the Burmese military said on the 2nd that the military released the local leaders and lawmakers of the provinces and states it detained on the 1st, but President Win Myint and Senior State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi will continue to be detained. The officer, who did not want to be named, confirmed to reporters that the military would consider reshuffling the positions of local leaders in the released provinces and states. An official in Sagaing province told reporters that the provincial governor had returned home. According to local media reports, the governor of Ayeyarwady Division also returned to his residence on the 2nd.
In opposition to the detention of President Win Myint, Senior Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and other government officials by the Burmese military, medical staff at hospitals in Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon, Mandalay and Sagaing have issued statements refusing to work normally and protesting in a peaceful manner from the 3rd onwards, starting a “civil disobedience campaign”, with strikes at hospitals in many places starting early on the evening of the 2nd.
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