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Major powers’ move to help solve Myanmar crisis is a wake-up call for ASEAN
Whatever engagement is being done by regional powers, it should always be combined with some sort of pressure on the Myanmar military junta to stop the violence against civilians and release political prisoners.
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State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi (left) and Yohei Sasakawa, the Japanese government’s special envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar, meet in Naypyitaw on Nov. 10, 2020. (Courtesy of/Nippon Foundation)
T
his month, some major regional powers have taken the initiative to approach the leaders of the Myanmar junta’s State Administration Council (SAC). On Nov. 12, the special envoy of the Japanese government for national reconciliation in Myanmar, Yohei Sasakawa, met with SAC chairman Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw. Then, the Chinese special envoy of Asian affairs, Sun Guoxiang, also visited the capital city and was widely thought to have met with the coup leader, although no confirmation was made.
Sasakawa was the key person who helped the United States government negotiate the recent release of Danny Fenster, a journalist from Frontier Myanmar who had been detained for six months. In early November, former US ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson held a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing, allegedly for talks about the issue, despite reports that he had discussed the possible delivery of humanitarian assistance, especially COVID-19 relief, to Myanmar.
Recently, Sasakawa even managed to meet with high-ranking leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD), including presumably Aung San Suu Kyi, while the ASEAN special envoy was not given access to do so.
For some, the Chinese envoy’s visit was very much related to preparations for the upcoming China-ASEAN Summit this week. Myanmar is the country coordinator for ASEAN-China for 2022-2025.
It was reported that China had lobbied ASEAN to allow Hlaing to attend the summit. The plea was rejected by four ASEAN member states, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, which threatened to send lower-ranking diplomats should the SAC leader attend the meeting.
To some extent, the visits by high-ranking diplomats from key regional major powers indicate that they are no longer taking a back seat and applying a wait-and-see approach. This is a good sign as these countries also wish to restore a certain level of stability in Myanmar.
As one of the frontline states, China has been facing spill-over effects of the Myanmar conundrum, let alone the conflicts between the Myanmar military – the Tatmadaw – and ethnic armed groups, as well as fluctuating COVID-19 cases because of Myanmar’s poor pandemic response. This is on top of Chinese concerns over continual attacks on its companies and nationals as a result of anti-Chinese sentiment, as it is being accused of supporting the legitimacy of the junta.
