Report: China, Russia, India Enabling Myanmar Junta

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Facts

  • On Wednesday, a group of eight international legislators published a report claiming that, despite not being able to consolidate its takeover, Myanmar's military junta continues to hold on to power with the support of China, Russia, and a lesser extent, India.
  • The report deemed the Five-Point Consensus from the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to solve the crisis a huge failure, stating that it's vital that the international community "changes course on Myanmar" to comply with international obligations and standards.
  • It also urged the global community to recognize the National Unity Government (NUG) as Myanmar's legitimate authority and impose effective coordinated sanctions on the junta, which has been accused of killing at least 2.4K citizens and arresting over 16K people.
  • This comes after the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) conducted a four-month-long inquiry into the global response to the Feb. 2021 coup.
  • ASEAN leaders will next week consider a proposal from Malaysia to ban the Myanmar junta from all ministerial-level meetings, in reaction to the viewpoint that the current approach to stop violence and human rights abuses in the country isn't working.
  • Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar has announced that the South China Sea's Beibu Gulf Port-Myanmar shipping route was opened last Friday as Beijing seems to move forward with its infrastructure projects in the country.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Aseanmp, Irrawaddy, and Afr.

Narratives

  • Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. While China seeks to help Myanmar to prosper with peace and stability, the West and its proxies insistently promote a dirty smear campaign against Beijing. This attitude reveals their hypocrisy as they claim to support democracy and human rights but are only leveraging the Myanmar population's suffering to scapegoat China.
  • Anti-China narrative, as provided by Irrawaddy. Though reluctant to support the military coup at first, China has gradually stepped up its relationship with the junta to unequivocal support based on the belief that the regime will ultimately prevail and favor PRC economic and strategic interests. This support has aggravated the situation in Myanmar, harming the country's innocent people.
  • Cynical narrative, as provided by Washington Post. The UN's strong response to the crisis in Ukraine has shown that the organization had the necessary means to act to stop violence in Myanmar — proving that the international community has used a possible veto from China or Russia to justify its dereliction of duty. The crisis in this vulnerable Southeastern Asian country poses a serious threat to international peace, and decisive action must be taken.