US calls on China to escalate pressure on Myanmar after junta’s execution of 4 jailed activists

‘Arguably no country has the potential to influence the trajectory of Burma’s next steps more so than the PRC’, says State Department
But Beijing counters condemnation by citing its adherence to ‘principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs’

Myanmar

Owen Churchill

Published: 6:00am, 26 Jul 2022

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The US State Department called on Beijing to ramp up pressure on Myanmar’s military government and pledged to escalate its own punitive actions on Monday after the country’s junta executed four prisoners, including a former lawmaker and a prominent rights activist.

“Arguably no country has the potential to influence the trajectory of Burma’s next steps more so than the PRC,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

“The fact is that the regime [in Myanmar] has not faced the level of economic – and in some cases diplomatic – pressure that we would like to see,” Price said. “We are calling on countries around the world to do more. We will be doing more as well.”

While Price did not outline any new sanctioning plans by Washington, he said “all options that serve to cut off the regime’s revenue – which it uses to perpetrate this violence – [are] on the table”.

The Myanmar military government said on Monday it had put to death four prisoners, including a former member of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, in the country’s first official executions since 1976.

The executions have prompted a wave of global condemnation from governments, the United Nations, and rights groups.

“These reprehensible acts of violence further exemplify the regime’s complete disregard for human rights and the rule of law,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.

But absent from the voices expressing outrage was Beijing, where a foreign ministry spokesman stressed on Monday that China “always adheres to the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs”.

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“We always maintain that all parties and factions in Myanmar should properly handle their differences and conflicts within the framework of the constitution and laws with an eye on the long-term interests of the country and the nation,” the spokesman, Zhao Lijian, told reporters.

That follows a pledge articulated by Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi in April that China would continue to back Myanmar – with whom it shares a 1,400-mile border – “no matter how the situation changes”.

Asked about the tack nations like China and India have adopted in their relations with Myanmar, Price said: “There are countries around the world that haven’t done enough, certainly, when it comes to rhetorical condemnation, when it comes to imposing cost, when it comes to the core charge that it cannot be business as usual with the junta.”

Myanmar’s junta last February took power in a coup that saw military leaders seize control from the elected civilian government.

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Suu Kyi has faced a barrage of criminal charges levelled by the junta since she was ousted last year, and in April was sentenced to five years in prison over corruption charges that rights advocates have condemned as bogus.

According to a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the military government in Myanmar has killed more than 2,100 people since it seized power last year. The Thailand-based non-governmental organisation estimates the junta has issued death sentences to 117 “political prisoners”.

“The military seems unconcerned with ending this crisis or reducing violence in accordance with its international obligations, let alone any willingness to respect due process, justice or rule of law,” Michelle Bachelet, the UN human rights chief, said on Monday.