Burma’s trade unions called a nationwide strike.
A number of trade unions in Myanmar have called a nationwide strike, and people have taken to the streets in several cities to protest last month’s military coup. In the northern town of Myitkyina, at least two people were killed when police reportedly opened fire on protesters. Gunfire was also heard in Yangon, the largest city. A local Chinese chamber of commerce leader said the political turmoil has hit some Chinese capital firms hard, fearing that the economic shutdown will add to the woes of private enterprises. (Summit Report)
As anti-military sentiment heats up, nine of Myanmar’s most influential trade unions launched a nationwide strike on Monday, hoping to cause a full and prolonged paralysis of the domestic economy in an attempt to stop the military’s continued seizure of power, and to demand the restoration of democracy and the release of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Tensions rise in Yangon
People in Yangon, the largest city, also responded to the strike and took to the streets to demonstrate. The military opened fire and fired flashbangs in residential areas.
Tu Guoding, president of the Myanmar Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, told this reporter on Monday that shopping malls, factories and banks in Yangon are currently closed. The atmosphere in the city is tense.
Tu Guoding said: Yesterday (Sunday) the whole night was shooting. Just now I went around and there were road blocks everywhere. The authorities closed off the roads because of the march. I heard that there might be larger scale clashes this week. It’s very simple, the government asked the banks to go to work, but some trade union organizations prevented the workers from going to work, one said go to work, one said no, there will definitely be a conflict. The banks (employees) go to work by bus, but (the protesters) stop them and don’t let them go to work, and the army is said to be escorting them to work.
Tu Guoding, president of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar, said the outlook for local Chinese private enterprises is not optimistic under the economic shutdown. (Courtesy of Tu Guoding)
Chinese businessmen: private enterprises will soon be unable to survive
A nationwide strike has plunged Myanmar’s economy into a sustained shutdown. The union that initiated the strike issued a statement saying that continued business and economic activity would only benefit the military, which is suppressing the Burmese people.
Tu said many Chinese capital firms are semi-paralyzed as demonstrations against the military’s power grab escalate. If the political turmoil continues, he said, it is likely that these private companies will soon be unable to hold out.
Tu Guoding said: The private sector has been hit hard. How can people go to work when they are in trouble every day? Some of those who don’t go to work go on marches. Clothing and footwear (enterprises) exports are greatly affected. There is no normal work, there is no normal export. Some enterprises originally had one factory, two factories and three factories, but now they have been reduced to only one factory, and they can’t do it without reduction. I guess many companies will be closed down this month.
Young Chinese in Myanmar overwhelmingly support Aung San Suu Kyi
Some analysts believe that the Chinese community in Myanmar is deeply divided in the face of the coup. While the older generation of Chinese who experienced the Chinese exclusion riots in the 1960s tend to stay away, the younger generation of Chinese who grew up in Myanmar and joined the mainstream society overwhelmingly support the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and many of them actively participate in the anti-junta demonstrations.
The Burmese military has been cracking down on demonstrations for days. Official media reported that troops have been stationed in hospitals and universities in several cities.
Lee Ming Kong, an associate professor at the School of International Relations at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, estimated that the military government would choose to respond with forceful violence in the face of escalating demonstrations.
Li Mingjiang said: (military) to hard and even violent means to solve, is certainly the hope that as soon as possible to calm the domestic political situation in Myanmar, do not want to see the protest movement more and more intense, the past two weeks the military violence to increase the intensity, in order to achieve the effect of intimidation.
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