Myanmar Rebels Vs Gov

[bojan]

18 minutes ago, Josh said:

...I'd have thought they would have little tolerance for Americans...

They consider conflict with US over and done, while one with Chinese was, is and will be.

Plus there is some amount of "reverse-Ostalgie" present.

Edited March 1, 2021 by bojan

[JWB]

3 hours ago, Josh said:

When I was in Vietnam, the dislike of the Chinese was pretty palpable. I'd have thought they would have little tolerance for Americans, but I had no issues. Maybe they thought I was British. But I think culture/race pretty easily trump political ideology in this case.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/7-of-10-ASEAN-members-favor-China-over-US-survey

[Simon Tan]

You fight the Americans for 50 years, you fight the Chinese for a millenium. Vietnam. 

[Detonable]

 Who’s visited Vietnam recently, and what were your opinions of the country?

[sunday]

4 hours ago, Detonable said:

 Who’s visited Vietnam recently, and what were your opinions of the country?

There was a recent post on Facebook by one tanknetter that visited the country recently in an official capacity. He used the word "intense" a lot, and seemed to think they were quite into Capitalism.

[JasonJ]

Haven't been there myself but from others that I've heard from that have, they seem serious in developing their economy.

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 02.03.2021

Myanmar: Protesters hit with stun grenades ahead of ASEAN talks

Police used stun grenades and tear gas against demonstrators, following the bloodiest weekend of the protests. Meanwhile, ASEAN leaders are calling for dialogue between Suu Kyi and the military.

Protesters in Myanmar took to the streets again on Tuesday to protest the ousting of Aung San Suu Kyi'selected government last month, as foreign ministers geared up to meet on the crisis.

This week's talks between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) follow the suspected deaths of at least 18 people on Sunday, the most violent day since last month's coup sparked nationwide mass protests.

Military forces ramped up their use of deadly force and mass arrests over the weekend. Meanwhile, police in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, used tear gas against the protesters on Tuesday.

Police use live ammunition

Demonstrators wore hard hats and held makeshift shields, gathering behind barricades in different parts of Yangon to chant slogans against military rule.

"If we're oppressed, there will be explosion. If we're hit, we'll hit back," demonstrators chanted before police fired stun grenades to scatter crowds in at least four different places in the city.

There were no reports of any injuries in Yangon but, according to witness reports, several people were injured in the northwestern town of Kale when police fired live ammunition to disperse a crowd.

Protesters also marched through the streets of Dawei, a small city in southeastern Myanmar that has seen almost daily large protests against military rule. Meanwhile, hundreds gathered in the Hledan area of Yangon, where a day earlier police had repeatedly used tear gas canisters.

ASEAN to call for cooperation

Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said his ASEAN counterparts would be frank when meeting via video on Tuesday, and would tell a representative of Myanmar's military that they were shocked by the violence.

In a television interview on Monday, Balakrishnan said ASEAN would encourage dialogue between Suu Kyi and the junta. "They need to talk, and we need to help bring them together," he said.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-protesters-hit-with-stun-grenades-ahead-of-asean-talks/a-56742508

[Nobu]

On 3/1/2021 at 9:49 AM, bojan said:

They consider conflict with US over and done, while one with Chinese was, is and will be.

A shrimp among whales mentality redux.

Much like those Koreans who have considered war between Japan and China of net benefit for their culture and race, it would not surprise me if there were similar Vietnamese who would welcome war between the USA and China, for similar reasons.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Nobu

[Josh]

19 hours ago, Detonable said:

 Who’s visited Vietnam recently, and what were your opinions of the country?

My visit was 5-6 years ago, but in Ho Chi Minh (a surprising number of residents and signage actually referred to Saigon) it seemed like there was basically no regulation for any small business you could run out of a living room. In the back alleyways of District 4 I saw a WWII lathe, moped shops, a one table pool hall, an urban chicken farm, all manner of recycling stream businesses (nothing you put out actually went in the trash), and of course practically everyone had a cart if they happened to make too much food - they would just become a pop up restaurant for a night. There seems to be zero licensing/inspection for any type of business you want to run out of your living room for cash. Or at least zero enforcement. My first night the two story house in the ally next to my air bnb was demolished - by hand, with sledge hammers. I also saw a dozen pieces of rebar, a 3/4 fridge, and a small washing machine balanced on mopeds while I was there. If there are two words I'd use to describe the people, it would be friendly and resilient.

[Simon Tan]

Ho Chi Minh was nationalist first. He embraced communism as it was the avenue by which he could achieve his goal of kicking out the French. USia was allied to the French. 

[Nobu]

"Kicking out the French" posits the People's Republic of Vietnam as Asia's Mexico in various ways. Their interesting histocultural fear/hate of China may parallel similarly based Mexican cultural sentiment toward the United States.

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[R011]

16 hours ago, Simon Tan said:

Ho Chi Minh was nationalist first. He embraced communism as it was the avenue by which he could achieve his goal of kicking out the French. USia was allied to the French. 

Communist seems to have been a very close second.  Ho was a founder of the French Communist Party and a long time COMINTERN agent working mostly in China. 

Vietnam and the US were enemies from 1946 to 1992.  The French were enemies for longer.  Neither of them are enemies now.  The Chinese have been enemies for centuries save for the few years between 1949 and 1975.

Edited March 3, 2021 by R011

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 11.03.2021

Myanmar: Several protesters reported killed

Witnesses and local media have said at least five people have been killed during an anti-coup protest in central Myanmar.

An anti coup protestin the central Myanmar town of Myaing turned deadly on Thursday, with staff at the local hospital reporting that six people have been killed.

Graphic images shared by a local journalist showed one person dead on the ground in a pool of blood with what appears to be a head injury.

It is currently unclear under what circumstances the victims were killed. A man who took part in the demonstration and helped carry bodies to the hospital told Reuters news agency that security forces had fired on protesters. 

"We protested peacefully," the man said. "I couldn't believe they did it."

What is causing violence in Myanmar?

Security forces in Myanmar have been using increasingly brutal tactics to suppress a nationwide protest movement opposing the military take over of the democratically elected government on February 1. 

Before Thursday, the death toll of the protests stood at 60, with more than 2,000 people having been arrested, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group.

UN condemns violence

The deaths come one day after the UN Security Council unanimously condemned the violence used against protesters and called for Myanmar's military to exercise "restraint."

A statement approved by all Security Council members, including Myanmar ally China, also called for the reversal of the coup and the immediate release of elected leaders who have been jailed since the military takeover. 

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-several-protesters-reported-killed/a-56833633

[JasonJ]

ADB suspends funding.

Quote

 

The Asian Development Bank has suspended its funding for projects by Myanmar's government following a military coup in the country.

The ADB said in a statement on Wednesday that it "remains deeply concerned about recent developments in Myanmar, especially the loss of life during civil protests."

The bank said it had put a temporary hold on funding for sovereign projects and new contracts in Myanmar from February 1.

It said it used about 2.4 billion dollars in Myanmar from 2013 to 2019 to fund projects to provide infrastructure such as electricity, tap water and road networks.

Observers say funding from the ADB and other financial institutions has been important in Myanmar's economic growth. They say the bank's latest move could be a blow to the military, which organized the coup.

 

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210312_05/amp.html

[JasonJ]

The deployment of Myanmar's first space satilite on hold while at the ISS.

Quote

 

TOKYO (REUTERS) - Myanmar's first satellite is being held on board the International Space Station (ISS) following the Myanmar coup while Japan's space agency and a Japanese university decide what to do with it, two Japanese university officials said.

The US$15 million (S$20 million) satellite was built by Japan's Hokkaido University in a joint project with Myanmar's government-funded Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University (MAEU). It is the first of a set of two 50kg microsatellites equipped with cameras designed to monitor agriculture and fisheries.

Human rights activists and some officials in Japan worry that those cameras could be used for military purposes by the junta that seized power in Myanmar on Feb 1.

That has put the deployment on hold as Hokkaido University holds discussions with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa), the two Hokkaido University officials said.

"We won't get involved in anything that has to do with the military. The satellite was not designed for that," one of the officials, a manager of the project, told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

"We are discussing what to do, but we don't know when it will be deployed. If it is halted, our hope is that the project could be restarted at some point."

The manager did not say when the satellite was meant to be deployed, or when a decision would have to be taken by Jaxa either to go ahead or delay it.

The second Hokkaido University official said the contract with MAEU did not specify that the satellite cannot be used for military purposes. However, data from the spacecraft would be collected by the Japanese university and cannot be independently accessed by Myanmar officials, the second official said.

Since the coup, university officials had been unable to contact the rector of MAEU, Professor Kyi Thwin, the second official added.

Officials at Jaxa could not be reached for comment. MAEU did not respond to calls seeking comment, nor did a spokesman for Myanmar's junta.

The satellite was launched by Nasa on Feb 20 as a small part of a large and varied payload of supplies to the ISS 400km above the Earth. It has since been kept by Jaxa inside Japan's Kibo experiment module. Jaxa astronaut Soichi Noguchi is one of the seven crew members now on board the space station.

Japan has close ties to Myanmar and is one of its biggest aid donors. While condemning the violence, it has not taken as hard a stance against the coup as the United States and some other Western countries which have applied sanctions.

While the spacecraft has not been built to military specifications, Mr Teppei Kasai, Asia programme officer for Human Rights Watch, said it would be easy for Myanmar's army rulers to appropriate the technology for military use.

"So the involved Japanese universities should suspend the project and urgently review it for potential human rights risks," Mr Kasai said.

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/myanmars-first-satellite-held-by-japan-on-space-station-after-coup

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 13.03.2021

Myanmar: Curfew-defying protests turn deadly

New reports have spread on social media of police firing into crowds of anti-coup protesters during a night vigil for those arrested.

At least seven people were killed Saturday during anti-coup protests in Myanmar, as security forces continue to use deadly force against peaceful demonstrators.

Four people were reported killed in Mandalay after police opened fire on a sit-in protest. Another two people died in the town of Pyay and one in a suburb of Yangon, reported the Associated Press.

What evidence exists of police violence?

Security forces have been using increasingly brutal tactics to suppress a nationwide protest movement opposing the military takeover of the democratically elected government on February 1.

Graphic images circulating among activists on social media Saturday showed bodies lying in the street and people disfigured by bullet wounds.

Domestic media reported that two protesters were killed overnight in Yangon's Tharketa district after police shot at a crowd of people who had gathered outside a police station demanding the release of detained demonstrators.

Thousands of people gathered Friday night in central Yangon to hold a vigil commemorating protesters who have died. At least 70 people have been reported killed so far. 

On Thursday, at least 10 demonstrators were killed in separate protests across the country. Six people were killed while demanding the release of prisoners at a police station in a central Myanmar town.

[...]

How has the international community responded?

The United States on Friday granted temporary deportation protections and work permits to citizens of Myanmar living in the United States.

Washington is also ramping up pressure against junta leaders, initiating sanctions against family members of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing earlier this week. The US has already tightened export controls on Myanmar. 

The UK on Friday warned its citizens to leave Myanmar, saying that "levels of violence are rising."

https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-curfew-defying-protests-turn-deadly/a-56860614

[JasonJ]

39 people killed yesterday as over 10 factories got burned to the ground.

Quote

Security forces killed at least 22 anti-coup protesters in the poor, industrial Hlaingthaya suburb of Myanmar's main city on Sunday after Chinese-financed factories were set ablaze there, an advocacy group said.

A further 16 protesters were killed in other places, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said, as well as one policeman, making it the bloodiest day since the Feb. 1 coup against elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Chinese embassy said many Chinese staff were injured and trapped in arson attacks by unidentified assailants on garment factories in Hlaingthaya and that it had called on Myanmar to protect Chinese property and citizens. China is viewed as being supportive of the military junta that has taken power.

As plumes of smoke rose from the industrial area, security forces opened fire on protesters in the suburb that is home to migrants from across the country, local media said.

"It was horrible. People were shot before my eyes. It will never leave my memory," said one photojournalist on the scene who did not want to be named.

Martial law was imposed in Hlaingthaya and another district of Yangon, Myanmar's commercial hub and former capital, state media announced.

Army-run Myawadday television said security forces acted after four garment factories and a fertiliser plant were set ablaze and about 2,000 people had stopped fire engines from reaching them.

A junta spokesman did not answer calls requesting comment.

Doctor Sasa, a representative of elected lawmakers from the assembly that was ousted by the army, voiced solidarity with the people of Hlaingthaya.

"The perpetrators, attackers, enemies of the people of Myanmar, the evil SAC (State Administrative Council) will be held accountable for every drop of blood that shed," he said in a message.

The latest deaths would bring the toll from the protests to 126, the AAPP said. It said more than 2,150 people had been detained by Saturday. More than 300 have since been released.

China's embassy described the situation as "very severe" after the attacks on the Chinese-financed factories. It did not make a statement about the killings.

"China urges Myanmar to take further effective measures to stop all acts of violence, punish the perpetrators in accordance with the law and ensure the safety of life and property of Chinese companies and personnel in Myanmar," its statement said.

No group claimed responsibility for burning the factories.

The embassy's Facebook page was bombarded with negative comments in Myanmar language and more than half the reactions - over 29,000 - used the laughing-face emoji.

Anti-Chinese sentiment has risen since the coup that plunged Myanmar into turmoil, with opponents of the army takeover noting Beijing's muted criticism compared to Western condemnation.

Only two factories had been burnt for now, protest leader Ei Thinzar Maung posted on Facebook.

"If you want to do business in Myanmar stably, then respect Myanmar people," she said. "Fighting Hlaingthaya, we are proud of you!!"

Britain was appalled by the use of deadly force by security forces against innocent people in Hlaingthaya and elsewhere on Sunday, its ambassador said in a statement.

"We call for an immediate cessation of this violence and for the military regime to hand back power to those democratically elected by the people of Myanmar," Ambassador Dan Chugg said.

The army said it took power after its accusations of fraud in a Nov. 8 election won by Suu Kyi's party were rejected by the electoral commission. It has promised to hold a new election, but has not set a date.

Suu Kyi has been detained since the coup and is due to return to court on Monday. She faces at least four charges, including the illegal use of walkie-talkie radios and infringing coronavirus protocols.

Away from Hlaingthaya, at least 16 deaths were reported elsewhere in Myanmar, including in the second city of Mandalay and in Bago, where state television MRTV said a police officer had died of a chest wound after a confrontation with protesters.

He is the second policeman reported dead in the protests.

The violence took place a day after Mahn Win Khaing Than, who is on the run along with most senior officials from the Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party, said the civilian government would give people the legal right to defend themselves. It announced a law to that effect on Sunday.

 (Reuters) 

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/At-least-39-reported-killed-in-Myanmar-as-Chinese-factories-burn

Quote

 

The Chinese Embassy in Myanmar on Sunday urged Myanmar to take effective measures to stop violence and punish perpetrators after several Chinese-funded factories were smashed and burned by lawbreakers on Sunday, which led to several Chinese being injured.

"China urges Myanmar to take further effective measures to stop all acts of violence, punish the perpetrators in accordance with the law and ensure the safety of life and property of Chinese companies and personnel in Myanmar," read the statement.

China also called on the people of Myanmar to express their demands in a lawful manner and not to be incited or used in a way that undermines Sino-Myanmar ties, according to the statement.

The statement came after over 10 factories, including some Chinese-funded enterprises, were vandalized and set on fire at an industrial zone in Myanmar's Yangon city on Sunday.

Carrying iron rods, axes and gasoline, the arsonists smashed the security personnel and set fires at the factories' entrances and in warehouses. 

Vehicles and nearby shops were also vandalized.

Per reports, several people were injured but identities of arsonists have not been ascertained yet.

 

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-14/Two-Chinese-funded-garment-factories-set-on-fire-in-Myanmar-YCP1cUIQIE/share_amp.html

Edited March 15, 2021 by JasonJ

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 20.03.2021

Myanmar: Protests continue as death count rises

Protesters have returned to the streets once again amid a deadly crackdown by the military. International outrage continues to grow.

Protesters came out onto the streets across Myanmar on Saturday in continued defiance of the military junta and their violent crackdown.

At least one person was killed overnight in the northern ruby-mining town of Mogok when security forces opened fire.

"One [person] died on the spot last night while two others are in critical condition in the hospital," a rescue worker told AFP news agency.

Photos shared on Twitter showed students and residents gathering on Saturday morning in the town of Bago, northeast of Yangon.

More than 230 people have died since the beginning of the coup on February 1.

Growing pressure from Asian neighbors

Asian countries have joined others in condemning the coup and calling for an end to the violence. On Friday night Malaysia backed a call by Indonesia President Joko Widodo for an urgent meeting by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"We in Malaysia, and the larger ASEAN community, cannot afford to see our brotherly nation of Myanmar become so destabilised at the hands of a selected few, who seek to promote their own vested interests," Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.

The Philippines and Singapore also called for action against the coup which ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-protests-continue-as-death-count-rises/a-56936720

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 27.03.2021

Myanmar protest death toll rises hours after junta threat

Dozens of people have been killed in a fresh crackdown on Myanmar's protest movement, according to local media. The leader of the military junta marked Armed Forces Day by promising new elections.

At least 50 people were killed when security forces opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in several parts of Myanmar on Saturday, the Myanmar Now news portal said.

It said the dead included 13 killed in the country's second-biggest city, Mandalay, 9 in the nearby region of Sagaing and 7 in the commercial capital Yangon.

The fresh crackdown came as Myanmar's military, the Tatmadaw, held the annual "Armed Forces Day" parade, using the occasion to condemn the opposition and promise elections.

"The army seeks to join hands with the entire nation to safeguard democracy," General Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech broadcast on state television after the parade in the capital, Naypyitaw. 

The parade was a show of force for the Tatmadaw, with military vehicles, firepower and soldiers marching in formation. 

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin also attended the parade. On Friday, he met with senior Tatmadaw leaders and offered his support. 

"Russia in a true friend," Min Aung Hlaing said Friday.

There were no signs of officials from other countries, although international guests are usually present at the parade.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-protest-death-toll-rises-hours-after-junta-threat/a-57022363

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 28.03.2021

Myanmar: Defense chiefs from 12 countries condemn protest deaths

Nations including Germany and the US jointly decried the military violence which resulted in over 100 deaths in one day. Protesters have returned to the streets of Yangon and Mandalay in further defiance of the junta.

Defense chiefs from 12 different countries on Sunday jointly decried violence in Myanmar a day earlier, which saw military forces open fire on anti-coup protesters, killing at least 100 people.

The US, Britain, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan issued the statement, a day after Myanmar's deadliest day of protests since the military coup in February.

"We condemn the use of lethal force against unarmed people by the Myanmar Armed Forces and associated security services," the statement read.

The military chiefs called on Myanmar's armed forces to cease violence and work to "restore respect and credibility with the people of Myanmar, that it has lost through its actions."

"A professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting — not harming — the people it serves."

A bloody Armed Forces Day celebration 

Myanmar's military celebrated Armed Forces Day on Saturday with parades and speeches, despite the non-stop protests against its seizure of power last month.

Estimated death tolls of Saturday's bloody events, which also saw several children killed, are difficult to independently verify.

A tally by the independent Myanmar Now news portal reported 114 people killed across 44 towns and cities, while a count by The Irrawaddy put the toll at 59 dead, among them three children aged 7, 10 and 13 years.

The total death toll since the coup is now over 420, according to local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Funeral services were also held on Sunday for some of the victims of Saturday's events.

"Junta forces shot machine guns into residential areas, resulting in many civilians, including six children between ten and sixteen years old, killed," AAPP said. "The fact the illegitimate military regime is targeting children is a grave act of inhumanity."

First air strikes in decades

Rebels in eastern Myanmar's Karen state said they had been targeted in airstrikes late Saturday, hours after the ethnic armed group seized a military base. Activists said that at least three people were killed, in what was the first aerial assault in 20 years in the state.

The assault targeted the Fifth Brigade of the Karen National Union (KNU), one of the country's largest armed groups, which says it represents the ethnic Karen people.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-defense-chiefs-from-12-countries-condemn-protest-deaths/a-57030553

[JasonJ]

The UNSC will have a closed door meeting about Myanmar on Wednesday. China has been the least critical of the military take over and subsequent shootings by the military on the protesters.

Quote

 

မြန်မာ့အရေး လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီမှာ အရေးပေါ်ဆွေးနွေးမည်

မြန်မာ့အရေး ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီမှာ ဗုဒ္ဓဟူးနေ့ အထူးအရေးပေါ် အစည်းအဝေးလုပ်ဖို့ရှိပါတယ်။ ပြီးခဲ့တဲ့ စနေ၊ တနင်္ဂနွေက အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ဆန္ဒပြသူတွေအပေါ် စစ်တပ်နဲ့ ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့ရဲ့ ဥပဒေမဲ့ ပစ်ခတ် ဖြိုခွင်းမှုကြောင့် တရက်တည်းမှာတင် ကလေးငယ်တွေအပါအဝင် လူပေါင်း ၁ဝဝ ကျော် သေဆုံးခဲ့ရပါတယ်။

မြန်မာ့အရေး ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီမှာ ဗုဒ္ဓဟူးနေ့ အထူးအရေးပေါ် အစည်းအဝေးလုပ်ဖို့ရှိပါတယ်။

ပြီးခဲ့တဲ့ စနေ၊ တနင်္ဂနွေက အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေးဆန္ဒပြသူတွေအပေါ် စစ်တပ်နဲ့ ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့ရဲ့ ဥပဒေမဲ့ ပစ်ခတ် ဖြိုခွင်းမှုကြောင့် တရက်တည်းမှာတင် ကလေးငယ်တွေအပါအဝင် လူပေါင်း ၁ဝဝ ကျော် သေဆုံးခဲ့ရပါတယ်။

စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းပြီးကတည်းက သေဆုံးမှုအများဆုံးဖြစ်ခဲ့ရတဲ့ ဒီအခြေအနေကို လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီမှာ အရေး ပေါ် ဆွေးနွေးဖို့ ဗြိတိန်နိုင်ငံက တောင်းဆိုခဲ့တာပါ။

လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီအဖွဲ့ဝင် ၁၅ နိုင်ငံကနေ ဗုဒ္ဓဟူးနေ့မှာ မြန်မာ့အရေးကို တံခါးပိတ်ဆွေးနွေးကြမှာဖြစ်ပြီး၊ ကုလသမဂ္ဂရဲ့ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ အထူးကိုယ်စားလှယ် Christine Burgener အစီရင်ခံမှာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ဒါပေမဲ့ လည်း ဒီအစည်းအဝေးကနေ ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်တခုခု ထွက်လာနိုင်မလားဆိုတာတော့ မသေချာသေးပါဘူး။

လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီမှာ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံနဲ့ပတ်သက်ပြီး အရေးယူဖို့ ကြိုးပမ်းတိုင်း တရုတ်နဲ့ ရုရှားက အမြဲ ကန့်ကွက်လေ့ရှိပါတယ်။

ဒါပေမဲ့ မနေ့ကတော့ - ရုရှားအစိုးရက - မြန်မာပြည်မှာ အရပ်သားသေဆုံးမှုအရေအတွက် တိုးလာတဲ့အပေါ် အရမ်းကို စိုးရိမ်ကြောင်း ထူးထူးခြားခြား ထွက်ပြောခဲ့ပါတယ်။

ဒီ့မတိုင်ခင် မတ်လ ၁၂ ရက်နေ့ကလည်း - မြန်မာပြည်သူတွေ သေဆုံးနေရတဲ့ဖြစ်ရပ်နဲ့ စိုးရိမ်စရာ အခြေအနေ တွေကို အနီးကပ်စောင့်ကြည့်နေတယ်လို့ ရုရှားအစိုးရ ပြောခွင့်ရသူ Dmitry Peskov က ပြောခဲ့ဖူးပါတယ်။

စနေနေ့က နေပြည်တော်မှာ ကျင်းပခဲ့တဲ့ တပ်မတော်နေ့အခမ်းအနားကို ရုရှား ဒုတိယကာကွယ်ရေးဝန်ကြီး Alexander Fomin တက်ရောက်ခဲ့တဲ့ကိစ္စ မစ္စတာ Peskov ကို သတင်းထောက်တွေက မေးမြန်းချိန် မြန်မာ နိုင်ငံရဲ့အခြေအနေကို သေသေချာချာ အနီးကပ် ဆက်လက် စောင့်ကြည့်နေပြီး၊ မြန်မာနဲ့ ရုရှားနိုင်ငံကြား အချိန်အတော်ကြာ အပြုသဘောဆောင်တဲ့ ဆက်ဆံရေး၊ ခိုင်မြဲတဲ့ တိုးတက်မှုတွေ ရှိတယ်ဆိုပေမဲ့ - ဒါဟာ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှာ လတ်တလော ထိခိုက်သေဆုံးနေရတဲ့ ကြေကွဲစရာ အဖြစ်အပျက်တွေကို လက်ခံနေတဲ့ သဘောမျိုး လုံးဝမဟုတ်ကြောင်း တုံ့ပြန်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။

ရုရှားက ၂ ကြိမ်တိုင်တိုင် ထူးထူးခြားခြား အခုလို ပြောဆိုလာပေမဲ့ - မြန်မာနိုင်ငံပြဿနာဟာ “ပြည်တွင်းရေး သာ ဖြစ်တယ်” - လို့ တောက်လျှောက်ပြောဆိုနေတဲ့ တရုတ်နိုင်ငံကတော့ ကလေးငယ်တွေ အပါအဝင် လူအများအပြား ထိခိုက်သေဆုံးမှုနဲ့ ပတ်သက်လို့ စစ်အာဏာပိုင်တွေအပေါ် တိုက်ရိုက်သတိပေး ပြောဆိုတာ မျိုး မရှိသေးပါဘူး။ မနေ့တုန်းက တရုတ်နိုင်ငံခြားရေးဌာန ပြောခွင့်ရသူကလည်း တည်တည်ငြိမ်ငြိမ် ဆောင်ရွက် ကြဖို့သာ ယေဘုယျဆန်ဆန် ပြောဆိုခဲ့တာပါ။

“မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှာရှိတဲ့ သက်ဆိုင်သူအားလုံးအနေနဲ့ လက်ရှိ တင်းမာနေတဲ့ အခြေအနေလျော့ကျအောင် တည် တည်ငြိမ်ငြိမ်နဲ့ ထိန်းထိန်းသိမ်းသိမ်း ဆောင်ရွက်ကြဖို့၊ အပြုသဘော ချဉ်းကပ်ကြဖို့၊ အပြုသဘော လုပ်ဆောင် ကြဖို့ ကျနော်တို့ မျှော်လင့်တယ်ဆိုတာကို အခွင့်အခါသင့်တိုင်း ကျနော်တို့ ပြောနေတာပါ။ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုနဲ့ သွေးထွက်သံယို ပဋိပက္ခတွေဟာ ဘယ်သူ့အတွက်မှ အကျိုးမရှိပါဘူး။ တကယ်တမ်း ထိခိုက်နစ်နာရတာက မြန်မာပြည်သူတွေပါပဲ”

မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှာ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို အနောက်နိုင်ငံတွေက ကန့်ကွက်ရှုတ်ချကြောင်း ပြောဆိုနေပေမဲ့ တရုတ် အစိုးရက အခုချိန်ထိ အာဏာသိမ်းမှုလို့ မသုံးဘဲ စစ်ကောင်စီရဲ့ အသုံးအနှုန်းအတိုင်း “အာဏာလွှဲပြောင်း ရယူမှု” - လို့ တရားဝင် ပြောဆိုထားသလို၊ အခုချိန်ထိလည်း အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို “ရှုတ်ချပါတယ်” လို့ ပြောဆို တာ မရှိပါဘူး။

ဒါကြောင့် လာမယ့် ဗုဒ္ဓဟူးနေ့ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီမှာလုပ်မယ့် မြန်မာ့အရေးဆွေးနွေးပွဲမှာလည်း အရင်လို တရုတ် နဲ့ ရုရှားက ကန့်ကွက်ဦးမလားဆိုပြီး စိုးရိမ်မှုတွေ ရှိနေတာပါ။

လူ့အခွင့်အရေးနဲ့ မြန်မာ့အရေးကျွမ်းကျင်သူ David Mathieson ကတော့ - ကမ္ဘာ့အင်အားကြီးနိုင်ငံတွေ အချင်းချင်း အားပြိုင်မှုတွေကြားမှာ မြန်မာက ညပ်နေတယ်လို့ သုံးသပ်ပါတယ်။

“အမေရိကန်နဲ့တင်မက ဂျပန်၊ အိန္ဒိယတို့နဲ့ပါ ပြိုင်ဆိုင်မှုတွေ တိုးလာနေတဲ့ မဟာဗျုဟာကျကျ အခြေအနေကို တရုတ်က မြင်တယ်။ ဒီနိုင်ငံတွေက သူ့ကို ထိန်းချုပ်ဖို့ ကြိုးစားနေတယ်ဆိုတဲ့ ခံစားချက်မျိုးလည်း သူ့မှာ ရှိတယ်။ ကံဆိုးတာက မြန်မာပြည်ဟာ ဒီနိုင်ငံတွေရဲ့ ခေတ်သစ်စစ်အေးတိုက်ပွဲကြားမှာ ရောက်နေတာပါ။ ဒီနိုင်ငံတွေ အားလုံးအနေနဲ့ မတူတာတွေ ဘေးဖယ်ထားပြီး မြန်မာပြည်သူတွေအတွက် မှန်မှန်ကန်ကန် ကြိုးပမ်းပေးသင့်တယ်။ စစ်တပ်ကို ဖယ်ရှားပြီး၊ အရပ်သားအစိုးရ အုပ်ချုပ်မှုအောက် ပြန်ရောက်နိုင်မယ့် နည်း လမ်းကိုလည်း ရှာပေးသင့်ပါတယ်။”

မြန်မာ့အရေးမှာ တရုတ်အစိုးရရဲ့ရပ်တည်ချက်ကို မကျေနပ်ကြတဲ့ - မြန်မာပြည်သူတွေကြားမှာတော့ “တရုတ် ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး” စိတ်ဓာတ်တွေက အရင်ကထက် ပိုပြင်းထန်လာနေတာပါ။

တရုတ်-မြန်မာဆက်ဆံရေးလေ့လာသူ ဒေါ်ခင်ခင်ကျော်ကြီးကတော့ - တရုတ်အစိုးရအနေနဲ့ မြန်မာပြည်သူ တွေရဲ့အသံကို နားထောင်သင့်ပြီလို့ ပြောဆိုပါတယ်။

“များသောအားဖြင့် Dominant Power (အာဏာ) ရှိတဲ့ အစိုးရ ကိုပဲ ပိုပြီးတော့မှ တရားဝင်သဘော ဆက်ဆံ လေ့ ဆက်ဆံထ ရှိတယ်ပေါ့နော်။ ဒါပေမဲ့ ဒီလိုအခြေအနေမျိုးမှာတော့ အထူးသဖြင့် တကယ်သာ ပေါက်ဖော် ဆက်ဆံရေးမျိုးကို အကောင်အထည်ဖော်ချင်တယ်ဆိုရင်တော့ မြန်မာပြည်သူလူထုရဲ့အသံတွေကို နားထောင် ရမယ်။”

မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှာ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းပြီးနောက် ၁ လကျော်အကြာ မတ်လ ၁ဝ ရက်နေ့မှာမှ - အမျိုးသမီးနဲ့ ကလေး ငယ်တွေအပါအဝင် ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာဆန္ဒပြသူတွေအပေါ် စစ်တပ်နဲ့ ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့က အကြမ်းဖက်ဖြိုခွင်းနေမှုကို ပြင်းပြင်း ထန်ထန် ရှုတ်ချတဲ့ကြေညာချက်တစောင် ပထမဆုံးအကြိမ် လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီက ထုတ်ပြန်နိုင်ခဲ့တာပါ။

ဒါပေမဲ့လည်း “အာဏာသိမ်းမှု” ဆိုတဲ့ စကားလုံးကို အသုံးပြုဖို့နဲ့ ဆန္ဒပြသူတွေအပေါ် စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်ဖွဲ့ဝင် တွေက ဆက်ပြီး တိုက်ခိုက်ဖြိုခွင်းနေရင် နိုင်ငံတကာက အရေးယူမှုတွေ လုပ်ကောင်းလုပ်နိုင်တယ်ဆိုတဲ့အပေါ် မှာတော့ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီအဖွဲ့ဝင်တွေကြားမှာ အထူးသဖြင့် ရုရှားနဲ့ တရုတ်ရဲ့ ကန့်ကွက်မှုကြောင့် သဘော တူညီမှု မရခဲ့ကြဘူးဆိုတဲ့ သတင်းတွေ ထွက်ပေါ်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။

မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှာ အာဏာသိမ်းပြီး ၄ ရက်အကြာမှာလည်း - အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို “ရှုတ်ချတယ်” ဆိုတဲ့ စကားလုံး အစား၊ “သိပ်ကို စိုးရိမ်တယ်” ဆိုတာနဲ့ နိုင်ငံတော်အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ် ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည် အပါအဝင် ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းထားသူတွေကို ပြန်လွှတ်ပေးဖို့ပဲ တောင်းဆိုခဲ့ပါတယ်။

RFA ကနေ သီးခြားပြုစုထားတဲ့စာရင်းအရ အခုဆိုရင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှာ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီ ၁ ရက် အာဏာသိမ်းပြီး ကတည်းက စစ်တပ်နဲ့ ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့ရဲ့ ဥပဒေမဲ့ ပစ်ခတ်ဖြိုခွင်းမှုတွေကြောင့် နိုင်ငံအနှံ့မှာ သေဆုံးသူ ၄၂ဝ ကျော် ရှိသွားပါပြီ။ ဒီအရေအတွက် အချက်အလက် အတိအကျ ရရှိထားတဲ့စာရင်းဖြစ်ပြီး၊ ပိုင်ရှင်မဲ့နဲ့ စစ်ကောင်စီတပ်ဖွဲ့ ဝင်တွေ သယ်သွားတဲ့စာရင်းတွေ အတိအကျ မရသေးတာကြောင့် ဒီ့ထက်မက များနိုင်ပါတယ်။

နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအသင်း (AAPP) က ပြုစုထားတဲ့စာရင်းမှာတော့ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီ ၁ ရက်နေ မတ်လ ၂၉ ရက်နေ့အထိ သေဆုံးသူစုစုပေါင်း ၅၁ဝ ရှိပါတယ်။

 

https://www.rfa.org/burmese/news/myanmar-and-un-security-council-03292021205054.html/ampRFA

Edited March 30, 2021 by JasonJ

[JasonJ]

It'll be the third UNSC meeting.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210330_09/amp.html

 

An army outpost got overrun, 10 solders killed, jets retaliate on a village, 3,000 villagers flee across Thai border. Over 500 have been killed so far since the start.

Quote

 

Myanmar protesters have held overnight candle-lit vigils and launched a civil disobedience campaign of hurling garbage on to streets after an advocacy group said security forces had killed more than 500 people since the 1 February coup.

Out of 14 civilians killed in Myanmar on Monday, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said at least eight were in the South Dagon district of Yangon.

Security forces in the area fired a much heavier-calibre weapon than usual on Monday to clear a barricade of sand bags, witnesses said. It was not immediately clear what type of weapon was used.

State television said security forces used “riot weapons” to disperse a crowd of “violent terrorist people” who were destroying a pavement and one man was wounded.

A South Dagon resident on Tuesday said more gunfire could be heard in the area overnight, raising concerns of further casualties. Police and the junta did not answer calls seeking comment.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, urged Myanmar’s generals to stop the killings and repression of demonstrations.

In a new tactic, protesters sought to step up a civil disobedience campaign on Tuesday by asking residents to throw garbage on to streets at key road intersections. “This garbage strike is a strike to oppose the junta,” read a poster on social media.

The move came in defiance of calls issued via loudspeakers in some neighbourhoods of Yangon on Monday urging residents to dispose of garbage properly.

At least 510 civilians had been killed in nearly two months of efforts to stop protests, advocacy group AAPP said. The total killed on Saturday, the bloodiest day so far, had risen to 141, its figures showed.

One of the main groups behind the protests, the General Strike Committee of Nationalities, called on Monday in an open letter for ethnic minority forces to help those standing up to the “unfair oppression” of the military.

In a sign that the call may be gaining more traction, three groups in a joint letter on Tuesday called on the military to stop killing peaceful protesters and resolve political issues.

The groups – which include the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Arakan Army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army – warned if the military did not do this they “will cooperate with all nationalities who are joining Myanmar’s spring revolution in terms of self-defence”.

Insurgents from different ethnic groups have battled the central government for decades for greater autonomy. Though many groups have agreed to ceasefires, fighting has flared in recent days between the army and forces in the east and north.

Heavy clashes erupted on the weekend near the Thai border between the army and fighters from Myanmar’s oldest ethnic minority force, the Karen National Union (KNU).

About 3,000 villagers fled to Thailand when military jets bombed a KNU area after a KNU force overran an army outpost and killed 10 soldiers, an activist group and media said.

Thai authorities denied accounts by activist groups that more than 2,000 refugees had been forced back, but a Thai official said it was government policy for the army to block them at the border and deny access to outside aid groups.

Myanmar’s military has for decades justified its grip on power by saying it is the only institution capable of preserving national unity. It seized power saying that November 2020 elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party were fraudulent, an assertion dismissed by the election commission.

The US trade representative Katherine Tai said it was suspending all trade engagement with Myanmar until the return of a democratically elected government.

But foreign criticism and western sanctions have failed to sway the generals, and Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention at an undisclosed location, with many other figures in her party also in custody.

Britain has called for an emergency UN security council meeting on the situation. The 15 members will sit behind closed doors on Wednesday with a briefing on the situation by the UN’s special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener.

The council has previously condemned the violence and called for a restoration of democracy, but has not yet considered sanctions against the military, which would require support or an abstention from Myanmar’s neighbour and ally China.

 

 

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/30/garbage-strike-and-candle-lit-vigils-as-myanmar-death-toll-passes-500

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 31.03.2021

Myanmar: US calls on China to hold junta accountable

The UN special envoy for Myanmar warned that a "bloodbath" was imminent in the Asian country as the US urged Beijing to pressure the leaders of the military coup.

The US said China should use its influence to hold Myanmar’s military leadership accountable for the unrest that has so far claimed over 500 lives. Separately, the UN envoy on Myanmar warned that the country was on the brink of a civil war.

Myanmar's junta is facing daily protests since ousting the elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. The military responded with a brutal clampdown that has left hundreds of civilians dead.

On Wednesday, the US said it was continuing to call on China to hold those responsible for the coup "to account."

"What the junta has done in Burma is not in the interests of the United States. It's not in the interests of our partners and allies, and it's not in the interests of Beijing," said State Department spokesman Ned Price.

Unlike Western nations who strongly condemned the military action, China responded to the coup with caution and cited the importance of stability. 

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-us-calls-on-china-to-hold-junta-accountable/a-57069568

[Franck]

A little update, and some Questions.

About a week ago the KNLA (Karen National Liberation Army) attacked and took a Burmese outpost in their 5th Brigade area (hilly remote region bordering Thailand). They captured about eight prisoners, rest of the 20 men garrison was killed or fled through the jungle.

Here's some footage of the attack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaUlNvUFSdk

 

They did the same in the adjacent third Brigade area but there is no footage of that one.

The Burmese army, being already overstretched in the area and most likely, throughout the whole country as well, decided to retaliate by bombing (during the night) some Karen villages as well as some of their camps in the area. This was a terror move, with hardly any military objective.

A number of villagers were outright killed many more wounded and most of the remaining villagers (estimated at more than 10'000) decided to flee to the jungle where they remain hiding in caves to this day.

https://www.freeburmarangers.org/2021/03/30/children-killed-wounded-burma-army-airstrikes/

 

It  seems that so far, the attacks had their intended effect as despite ongoing skirmishing there hasn't been anymore KNLA attacks on Burmese outposts, Douhet would be proud.

The attacks were most likely performed using Yak 130 (Russian, modern combat capable trainer aicraft) and/K8 (Chinese trainer) which have been used by the Burmese against other insurgent groups in the country but never so far against the Karens.

They also attacked a Karen Gold mine in third Brigade WARNING, graphic:

 

They seem to have dropped some unguided bombs in their attacks and, Karen claim missiles too, but I'm skeptic (I don't see the point of the added expense). I think the people just miss identified rockets for missiles.

Some people also think they used KAB500 GPS guided they bought from the Russians but again, I don't see the point. 

Here are some photos of the fragments, can anyone identify them?

 

 

Maybe S-8 rocket booster parts?

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by Franck