Year: 2022

Myanmar Diplomat Cites Keys to Passage of Security Council Resolution  

Chin@Strategy

This week the U.N. Security Council passed its first resolution on Myanmar in 74 years, demanding the military junta immediately end violence in the Southeast Asian nation and free all political prisoners, including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. Junta allies China and Russia abstained instead of vetoing Wednesday’s measure. On Friday, the junta’s foreign ministry released a statement accusing the U.N. of “exerting pressure to destabilize Myanmar rather than supporting the government’s efforts.” Earlier this month, the United Nations upheld the credentials of Myanmar’s U.N.…

Myanmar’s NUG, analysts criticize Thailand for hosting junta foreign minister

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Myanmar’s shadow government, analysts and human rights groups have lambasted the Thai government for holding a meeting on the post-coup crisis there that included the Burmese junta’s foreign minister. The meeting in Bangkok on Thursday yet again exposed a sharp divide in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as member-states opposed to the Burmese junta – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore – were notably absent. Regional analysts say the meeting hosted by Thailand was a deliberate attempt to deepen a schism within ASEAN between authoritarian governments and the…

UN Security Council Trying to ‘Destabilize’ Myanmar, Junta Says

Chin@Strategy

Yangon, Myanmar —  Myanmar’s junta on Friday slammed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an end to violence and the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accusing the body of attempting to “destabilize” the country. The Security Council adopted its first-ever resolution on the situation in the turmoil-ridden Southeast Asian nation on Wednesday, after junta allies China and Russia abstained rather than veto the document. The 15-member council has been split on Myanmar for decades and was previously able to agree only on formal statements about…

Two Americans sanctioned by China say they don’t care

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Two U.S. citizens sanctioned by China in retaliation for U.S. sanctions issued over rights abuses in Tibet say they don’t care and focus should remain on Beijing’s treatment of ethnic minorities. China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday announced sanctions against American historian Miles Yu and Todd Stein, a deputy staff director on the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Both are banned from traveling to China or contacting anyone there. The Congressional-Executive Commission on China is a bipartisan body made up of members of congress and mandated to provide an annual report…

North Korea inspects party membership cards after alcohol bill goes unpaid

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Authorities in North Korea are inspecting membership cards for the ruling Workers’ Party after a man used his to get out of paying for alcohol, thereby sullying the party’s good name, sources in the country told Radio Free Asia. Membership in the Korean Workers’ Party was once seen as prestigious as it conferred many benefits to citizens, such as preferable job placement and access to better education and housing. To be a member of the party requires exemplary action, such as superior military service. But with the country’s economy in…

One year on, still no justice for Burmese killed in Christmas Eve massacre

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Rights activists and the relatives of nearly 50 civilians brutally killed and burned a year ago in a Christmas Eve massacre in eastern Myanmar’s Kayah state blamed on ruling junta troops say they are still trying to bring the perpetrators to justice. Soldiers forced the civilians from their vehicles, killed them and burned their bodies in the incident near Moso village in Hpruso township, drawing strong condemnation from the United Nations and the United States. Despite clear evidence and witness accounts pointing to national troops as the perpetrators, Myanmar’s military…

Guangzhou police deny visit to mother of detained anti-lockdown protester

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Police in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou are denying the mother of a rights activist detained after an anti-lockdown protest permission to meet with her daughter. Yang Zijing, who uses the social media handle “Dim Sum,” was taken away on Dec. 4 by plainclothes police from her home in Guangzhou on suspicion of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” a charge frequently used to target critics of the government, the Hubei-based Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website reported on Dec. 14. Yang was detained after getting home from a…

Limited TikTok ban could augur sweeping changes

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A new ban on TikTok’s use on U.S. government devices may only be the start of congressional prohibitions against the Chinese social media app, with lawmakers from both parties angling for more decisive action against what they say represents a national security threat. The $1.7 trillion spending bill, which funds the federal government through to September 2023 and was passed by the Senate on Thursday morning, now heads to the House. Included in the package is a law that prohibits the installation of TikTok on federal government devices. But revelations…

Nearly 250 million people in China could have COVID-19, leaked document shows

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Nearly 250 million people may now be infected with COVID-19 following the lifting of control measures in China, according to a leaked government document circulating on social media. The document, which appeared to be the leaked minutes of a Dec. 20 meeting of the country’s National Health Commission, estimated that some 248 million people became infected with COVID-19 from Dec. 1-20, or 17.65 percent of China’s population. New cases on Dec. 20 alone were estimated at around 37 million, in stark contrast to the mere thousands of cases detailed by…

Back to Diplomacy? The Bumpy Road to Sino-American Détente

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement Both China and the United States have recently emphasized the need to invest in their respective diplomatic machines. If Beijing aims to grow its diplomatic influence to increase its global influence, Washington has recently announced the creation of the Office of China Coordination at the State Department, an initiative to make U.S. diplomacy more effective since – according to one anonymous official – the China-U.S. relationship “could not be managed alone through the bilateral desk approach.” Importantly, these developments follow from the first face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Joe…