Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimichi Mogi warned in an interview with the Nikkei newspaper published Friday, May 21, that Japan could suspend all development assistance to Myanmar if the country’s military government continues to crack down on its coup opponents.
We don’t want to go this far at all, but we must say firmly that it will be very difficult to continue under such circumstances,” said Toshimichi Mogi.
As a country that has supported the democratization process in Myanmar in various ways, and as a friendly country, we must clearly convey this message on behalf of the international community,” he added.
Japan is one of Myanmar’s largest development aid donors, providing the equivalent of 1.4 billion euros to the country in the 2019/20 fiscal year. For its part, China has not disclosed the amount of its assistance to Myanmar.
In response to the Burmese military regime’s Feb. 1 coup that toppled the democratic government, Tokyo announced in March that it was suspending any further aid to Myanmar, but did not impose sanctions on Burmese officials, as the U.S., EU or UK did.
More than 800 people have been killed in unrest in Burma since the coup and the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of the civilian government.
Japan’s diplomatic service is continuing its dialogue with Burma’s military government, just as it did before Burma enjoyed a 10-year period of democracy from 2011-2021.
“We have more (diplomatic) channels, including military channels, in Burma than in Europe or the United States,” Toshimichi Shigeki said. He added that “the G-7 foreign ministers fully understand this.”
A Japanese journalist arrested in mid-April for covering pro-democracy protests in Myanmar was released and sent back to Japan last week, as Tokyo was providing $4 million in emergency aid to Myanmar through the U.N. World Food Program.
The Japanese journalist, Yuki Kitazumi, on Friday called on the Japanese government to show “courage” and put all the pressure Japan has on the Burmese military government. People in Burma are waiting and hoping for concrete action from the Japanese government,” he told a news conference in Tokyo. I hope the Japanese government will use the power that allowed me to be released to support the people of Burma,” he added.
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