The military coup in Burma represents a crucial early test for the Biden administration on how it will respond to the crisis amid its promise to coordinate with international allies and engage more closely with Congress over foreign policy concerns.
President Biden was quick to denounce the military takeover and arrest of democratically elected government officials, including the Nobel laureate and the majority leader who ruled the National League Democracy for Aung San Suu Kyi.
The State Department announced on Tuesday that it is formally viewing the crisis as a coup, prompting certain sanctions and a review of US aid to the country.
There is strong bipartisan support from lawmakers for the government to take meaningful action in response to the military coup in Burma, also known as Myanmar.
Congressional officials on both sides of the aisle welcomed prompt communications by State Department officials to inform them of the rapidly unfolding events in the country.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers are unanimous in condemning Burma’s democratic decline and are deeply committed to ensuring the protection of vulnerable minority communities such as the Rohingya, who suffered at the hands of the Burmese military in what the United Nations has said amounted to on genocide. Suu Kyi is a complicated partner for the West. She enjoys democratic support at home but is internationally criticized for not standing up for the rights of the Rohingya.
“The government has made the right decision in determining that a coup has taken place in Myanmar,” Senator James Risch (R-Idaho), the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. “This determination will ensure that US taxpayer dollars do not benefit the military junta that has falsely taken control of the civilian-led government.”
The Burmese military, the Tatmadaw, carried out its coup d’état early Monday morning local time and issued a national emergency in response to what the government said the government was failing to address its allegations of fraud in the November elections, a indictment raised by the and international election observers.
They arrested Burmese President U Win Myint, dozens of other political leaders, their families and civil society activists, according to the United Nations. Human rights groups reported internet outages, telephone outages and bank closures.
The Tatmadaw handed over control of the country for a year to military chief general Min Aung Hlaing, who was sanctioned by the US in 2019 for his role in human rights violations and corruption in connection with the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.
A congressman said that the Biden administration felt that things seemed somewhat peaceful in the country at this point and that Americans are safe on the ground. The assistant said the US wants to impose additional sanctions on the Tatmadaw.
US influence through sanctions is limited. The Trump administration had largely limited the amount of US foreign aid to the Burma government. The vast majority of US $ 135 million in aid flows to civil society and humanitarian projects.
“The Trump administration for whatever its other issues was not weak to human rights in Myanmar,” said Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations.
More telling will be how Biden can use diplomacy to influence Burma’s military to change course.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said US officials in Washington and around the world are “ setting the phones on fire ” to get in touch with like-minded allies in Europe, the Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asia about attempts. to restore democracy.
“This really comes in handy with our approach to foreign policy in general,” said Price. “We understand that with every challenge the United States will become the most powerful country in the world, but bringing those allies, those partners, is power multipliers.”
The response from the international community has been somewhat divided, with Western democracies firmly condemning the coup, while regional countries and Myanmar’s neighbors are seen as a more cautious approach.
An important nation is Japan, which, according to regional experts, has close economic ties with Myanmar and the ability to exert strategic influence, but may not be willing to do so.
“They are reluctant to take a tougher approach to Myanmar as it is a place of important strategic and economic importance to them,” said Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Although Japan initially called the events in Myanmar “a serious concern,” Japan explicitly ended the coup on Wednesday with the G7 countries, uniting itself with European and North American allies, including the US.
Regional experts are also taking note of the response from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has so far expressed moderate concern. A statement by the intergovernmental organization, which is chaired by Brunei, did not address the role of the military in overthrowing the democratic government.
A congressional official said ASEAN’s statement indicates that action is unlikely to be taken given the organization’s demand to rule by consensus among its members, including Burma.
“It is unlikely that ASEAN will do anything about this, which is unfortunate, but it is certainly something to keep an eye on whether individual ASEAN member states are pushing for something, even if it doesn’t work out.”
The Philippines indicated it is hands-off in Myanmar, with a spokesman for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte allegedly calling the military takeover “an internal affair,” a statement reportedly echoed by a Thai government official.
Thailand underwent its own military coup in 2014. The current civilian government is widely regarded as a proxy for military rule, with a former army chief serving as prime minister.
China, for its part, has distanced itself from criticizing the situation in Myanmar, with the State Department saying Beijing is a friendly neighbor of Rangoon and expressing hope that all parties in Myanmar will properly deal with their disputes within the constitutional and legal framework and political and social stability. “
State Department spokesman Price said instability in Burma “is not in the interests of the Chinese,” a point echoed by Kurlantzick.
“China had developed a close relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi. The military in Myanmar and China do not have good relations, ”he said. “The idea that this is somehow beneficial to China is wrong.”
Chris Ankersen, a professor at the NYU School of Professional Studies Center for Global Affairs, said the rare alignment between Washington and Beijing could provide an opportunity for collaboration.
“National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan
Jake Sullivan Study Group recommends Biden to delay Afghanistan’s withdrawal Burma’s coup sets early test for Biden’s foreign policy Xi Jinping puts pressure on Biden – will Kim Jong-un join the fight? LAKE has recently indicated that he wants to see a China dimension to all foreign policy issues. This is a clear opening to see how that intention plays out, ”he said in an email to The Hill.
No such cooperation took place during an emergency meeting on Myanmar in the United Nations Security Council, where the US and China are permanent members.
Tuesday’s rally ended without a joint statement, despite UN Special Envoy to Burma Christine Schraner Burgener who urged the body to “collectively send out a clear signal in support of democracy in Myanmar”.
“I call on this Council, especially all members who influence the military, to fulfill its prevention and human rights obligations to help ensure that lives and civil liberties are protected,” said Schraner Burgener.