People gather outside the Chinese Embassy in Yangon to protest. Placards read “Help the people, not the coup army” and “Ask the network technicians from China to leave now” (February 11, 2021)
Protests have continued across Myanmar in the wake of the military coup, with people demanding the immediate restoration of a democratically elected government. On Thursday (February 11), hundreds of Burmese people gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy in Yangon to demonstrate and denounce Beijing‘s support for the Burmese military regime.
The protesters’ placards, in English and Chinese, read “Support Burma, not the dictator. Some protesters told Burmese media that “Chinese officials seem to be supporting the military coup in some way.
Reuters reported that the Chinese embassy in Myanmar did not respond to these claims.
China denies “secretly supporting or acquiescing” to the military coup in Myanmar. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a press conference last week that “the claims are not true.
Myanmar’s military government on Feb. 4 blocked social media platforms such as Facebook, a key communication channel for the Burmese people. There are reports that China recently sent technicians to Myanmar to help block the network. Taiwan‘s Central News Agency correspondent in Bangkok reported that photos circulating on the Internet showed staff unloading several boxes of goods from a flight, and Burmese questioned whether those were technical equipment and technicians used by China to help break the network.
Reuters reported that the Chinese embassy in Myanmar posted a Facebook post on Wednesday night (Feb. 10) denying the online rumors and saying that the only Chinese flights to and from Myanmar were regular cargo flights carrying imported and exported seafood. The Chinese embassy’s Facebook page was not accessible on Thursday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on Wednesday, in response to a related question from an AFP reporter, that he had not heard of China providing equipment and IT experts to the Burmese side. He also said that “there are false news and rumors about the Chinese side on the Myanmar issue, so please do not believe the claims”.
Burmese people do not believe the official Chinese story, with “Chinese Cargo Yangon” (#ChineseCargoYGN) becoming one of the main social media hashtags on Thursday. Burmese netizens questioned how anyone could import seafood at this point in Time, and how it could be shipped in wooden crates.
China has significant economic and strategic interests in Myanmar and has often supported Myanmar’s position against Western criticism of the country.
Following the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar, Western countries expressed strong condemnation. But China’s position is more vague, stating only that it wants the situation in Myanmar to remain stable. Some official Chinese media have described the military takeover as a “cabinet reshuffle”.
However, China supported a Feb. 4 UN Security Council statement calling for the release of democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other detainees, and expressing concern about the state of emergency. The statement was softly worded and made no mention of the Feb. 1 coup.
The Burmese military announced Feb. 1 that army chief Min Aung Hlaing would take over the country. The military has detained Aung San Suu Kyi and accused her party of fraud in the recent elections.
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