(Staff article from the ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA on April 2, 2021.)
China and Russia are the two biggest suppliers of
military arms to Myanmar; The UN Security Council has stopped short of condemning
the coup; The EU is preparing new sanctions on individuals and companies owned
by the Myanmar military.
"It comes as no surprise that Russia and China are blocking the attempts of the UN Security Council, for example, to impose an arms embargo," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a blog post on Sunday. "Geopolitical competition in Myanmar will make it very difficult to find common ground," said Mr Borrell, who speaks on behalf of the 27 EU member states. "But we have a duty to try."
Security forces have killed more than 700 unarmed protesters, including 46 children, since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup on February 1, according to a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group.
That included 82
people killed in the town of Bago, near Yangon, on Friday, which the AAPP
called a "killing field". "The world watches in horror, as the
army uses violence against its own people," Mr Borrell said.
China and Russia
both have ties to Myanmar's armed forces, as the first and second-largest
suppliers of weapons to the country, respectively. The UN Security Council last
week called for the release of Ms Suu Kyi and others detained by the military
but stopped short of condemning the coup.
The EU is
preparing fresh sanctions on individuals and companies owned by the Myanmar
military. The bloc in March agreed to a first set of sanctions on 11
individuals linked to the coup, including the commander-in-chief of the
military.
While EU
economic leverage in the country is relatively small, Mr Borrell said the EU
could offer to increase its economic ties with Myanmar if democracy is
restored. That could include more trade and investments in sustainable
development, he said. EU foreign direct investment in Myanmar totalled $US700
million ($918 million) in 2019, compared with $US19 billion from China.
The military
says it staged the coup because a November election won by Ms Suu Kyi's party
was rigged. The election commission has dismissed the assertion. In Myanmar,
protest groups are calling for the boycott of the Thingyan Water Festival this
week, one of the most important celebrations of the year, because of the
killings.
"[With]
Thingyan approaching, we mourn the senseless loss of life in Bago & around
the country where regime forces have reportedly used weapons of war against
civilians," the US Embassy in Yangon said on Twitter. "The regime has
the ability to resolve the crisis & needs to start by ending violence &
attacks."